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Julia Ward Howe First Day Stamp Issue collection

finding aid

Creator:

Perkins School for the Blind

Date Range:

1987

Call Number:

AG126

Abstract:

This collection includes information from the U.S. Postal Service First Day Ward Howe stamp issue and its “First Day” stamp commemoration event at Perkins School for the Blind on Feb.12, 1987. Paper, magazine and slide documentation include the U.S. Postal service issued First Day stamped envelopes, stamped First Day Perkins School postcards, the Perkins First Day event poster, the Perkins First Day Event program, press and magazine coverage concerning the stamp issue and the Perkins commemoration First Day event, and a biographical selection on Julia Ward Howe.

Extent:

1 half-size document case, .25 linear feet

Language:

English

Processed by:

Jane Pipik, 2019

Biographical/Historical notes:

Julia Ward Howe was a prominent author, poet, playwright, and reformer. She is best known as the author of The Battle Hymn of the Republic, the Union Civil War Anthem.

She was married to and aided her husband Samuel Gridley Howe, the founding director of the Perkins School for the Blind in establishing school and training for the blind, and handicapped. They had six children.

She was an abolitionist and suffragist. She helped found Women’s Suffrage Organizations, Women’s Peace organizations, and Women’s Clubs. She lectured and preached extensively in later life.

Ward Howe was the first woman elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letter in 1908. Brown University and Smith granted her honorary degrees in 1909 and 1910 respectively. She was called the “Grand Old Woman of America” and the “Dearest Old Lady in America”.

Sources of information:

“14cent-Howe, Great Americans Issue”  People, Postage and the Post, Smithsonian National Postage Museum

AG156 James Trent Collection. Perkins School for the Blind Archives, Watertown, MA.

“Julia Ward Howe, 1819-1910”, National Women’s History Museum.

“Julia Ward Howe, American Writer”, Encyclopaedia-Britannica.

AG28 Julia Ward Howe Collection. Perkins School for the Blind Archives, Watertown, MA.

“Julia Ward Howe: Correspondence, Howe Family Photographs and Memorabilia, Articles and Writing”, Perkins School for the Blind, Flickr

“Papers of Julia Ward Howe,1857-1961, Collection Identifier A-24; M-133,  Harvard University

AG18 Samuel Gridley Howe Collection. Perkins School for the Blind Archives, Watertown, MA.

AG75 Rachael Noyes, Julia Ward Howe First Day Issue Collection. Perkins School for the Blind Archives, Watertown, MA.

Restrictions:

The Perkins Archives reserves the right to deny physical access to materials available in a digital format. 

It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission to publish from the owner of the copyright (the institution, the creator of the record, the author or his/her transferees, heirs, legates, or literary executors). The user agrees to indemnify and hold harmless Perkins School for the Blind, its officers, employees, and agents from and against all claims made by any person asserting that he or she is an owner of copyright.

Credit line/Citation:

AG126 Julia Ward Howe First Day Stamp Issue Collection, Perkins School for the Blind Archives, Watertown, MA.

Scope/Contents:

US Postal Service press release and organizational paper on “First Day”  activities, color slide of Julia Ward Howe stamp, original stamped “First Day” envelopes and Perkins postcards, Perkins First Day poster and Event Brochure, press reviews from The Boston Globe, NY Times, the Washington Times, The News Tribune, The Watertown Sun, Linns Stamps News, STAMPS philately magazine and biographical information on Julia Ward Howe

Arrangement:

 1 box arranged by subject. The bulk of the collection is arranged chronologically.

AG28 Julia Ward Howe Collection. Perkins School for the Blind Archives, Watertown, MA.

AG75 Rachael Noyes, Julia Ward Howe First Day Issue Collection. Perkins School for the Blind Archives, Watertown, MA.

Julia Ward Howe Digital Collection on Flickr

Container List:

Key to Abbreviations: 

B1:F1 = Box 1: Folder 1

Box 1

  • B1:F1: U.S. Postal Service Commemoration Documents, 1987
  • B1:F2: Color transparency of Julia Ward Howe stamp and Correspondence, 1987
  • B1:F3: “Stamps”, Philately magazine and article, 1986, 1987 [Photocopies of both articles,2019]
  • B1:F4: Thirty-two Commemorative Day Issue Envelopes, 1987
  • B1:F5: Two Perkins School stamped postcards, 1987
  • B1:F6: Printed paper Perkins “First Day” poster, 1987
  • B1:F7: Two First Day Issue Perkins School Program Feb.12,1987
  • B1:F8: Press articles on Commemorative Stamp Issue, 1987
  • B1:F9: Original Newspaper Press on Perkins “First Day” Commemoration, 1987 [Photocopies of newspaper article 2019]
  • B1:F10: Photocopied biographical books chapters and articles, circa 1987

Provenance:

Unknown

Subject headings:

  • Perkins School for the Blind.
  • Perkins School for the Blind–History.
  • Howe, S. G. (Samuel Gridley), 1801-1876
  • Howe, Julia Ward, 1819-1910
  • Women–Suffrage–United States–History
  • Postage stamps–United States–History.
  • Women social reformers on postage stamps

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