The general public may read and access these items in the Slusser reading room during business hours. Local members in good standing may check out most materials.

We’ve had some questions about when we’re going to fully re-open. We’re appreciative of the interest, and we’re looking forward to reopening completely as well!

Unfortunately, we don’t yet have a projected re-opening date. The reason for this is that we began several projects during the covid-19 pandemic that need to be completed before we are ready to accommodate museum tours, student field trips, library research, and drop-in visitors.

That’s why we’re extremely keen to have more volunteers. The more help we have, the faster we’ll be able to open our doors to our museum, philatelic store, and library!

Thank you for your patience. And please consider joining our team. Click on the button below to go to our volunteer webpage to learn more.

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Through this little envelope, the oldest known to have been postmarked at the Tucson post office during the Territorial period, take a trip through time and learn about the major steps towards the annexation of Arizona into the United States.

On view in Slusser Library from March 2020-Summer 2020. Please check the schedule or call ahead to be sure the library is open to patrons.

ARIPEX is an important event for us to connect with other philatelists and organizations. It also provides a much bigger audience for our philatelic merchandise (acquired by us through donations). The sale of philatelic material is an important part of our revenue stream that helps keep our education, museum, and library programs flourishing. Please join us at ARIPEX 2020.

For more information, click here for the official ARIPEX flyer (pdf).

The exhibit runs Nov. 4, 2019 through Feb. 28, 2020, and is open to the public weekdays at no charge, from 9AM to 3PM at the Postal History Foundation Slusser Library, 920 N 1st Ave., Tucson, Ariz. 85719.  Limited free parking is available behind the PHF buildings during hours of operation.

Participating artists are members of the Sonoran collective PaperWorks and San Diego Book Arts, both groups that focus on paper and book arts. 

Text by PaperWorks.

Tucson’s post office was established in 1857 when the area we know as Arizona was part of a much larger New Mexico Territory. During the Civil War, the southern U.S. mail route was discontinued as the Confederate Army expanded westward, taking control of southern New Mexico Territory and attempting to reach California. In 1863, the U.S. Congress reacted by using a north-south boundary to create the familiar shapes of Arizona and New Mexico that we know today. Tucson’s post office was re-established after the Civil War and received its first Arizona Territory canceling device on July 13, 1865. The 1867 cover, now in the Postal History Foundation’s holdings, marks an important milestone in Tucson’s postal history.

Jack Mount purchased the cover in order to donate it to the Postal History Foundation. “It’s an important piece of Tucson history,” Jack said. “It belongs in a museum, where everybody can have access to it.”

Jack is an avid collector of postcards and postmarks from National Parks and Arizona. He volunteers at the Postal History Foundation once a week, usually sorting donated postcards and envelopes. Jack is also president of the Tucson Post Card Exchange Club, which meets once a month at the Foundation’s Slusser Library.

The envelope is not currently on display, but may be viewed by appointment. Other exhibits and activities are available for free, Monday through Friday, 8-3.

Congratulations to Nola Gelling, this year’s Grand Winner of the Postal History Foundation’s Annual Tucson Birthday Stamp Design Contest!

Nola grew up drawing in her mother’s studio and loves to create. Her family enjoys exploring the Sonoran desert and they like to try to find cristate or crested saguaros. Her colorful drawing of one of the famous cristate saguaros in Sabino Canyon is an eye-catcher with the beautiful blue Tucson sky in the background. Nola used pencils, markers, and acrylic paint to create this colorful work of art that reminds us of why we love Tucson. “A lot of people know about Sabino Canyon but not a lot of people know about the Sabino Canyon Fan, cristate saguaro,” said Nola.

You can order these custom stamps and custom decorative envelopes by mail (order form here [pdf]), by phone, or online with a credit card. The proceeds benefit the Stamp Discovery Education Program at the Postal History Foundation.

A gallery of all the winning entries of 2019:

The Postal History Foundation celebrates the 50^th anniversary of Apollo 11 and the first lunar landing with the exhibit, Small Steps, Giant Leaps, and Lasting Memories: Celebrating the 1969 Moon Landing. People all over the globe huddled around television sets July 20, 1969, in awe and anticipation as Neil Armstrong bounced out of the Lunar Module and, for the first time, stepped foot on lunar soil. For a few brief moments, geopolitics disappeared; citizens around the world came together and shared the experience of witnessing an event of enormous significance.

The lunar landing was celebrated contemporaneously by postal services around the world. Over 50 stamps commemorating the Apollo 11 mission were issued by various countries from nearly every continent. Several of these stamps are represented in the exhibit.

The United States issued its own 1969 stamp, designed by Paul Calle. The stamp showed what the world had been anticipating: a human’s first step on the moon. A die of the stamp’s image was taken into space by the astronauts; this die was later used in the printing process to manufacturing the stamps. A “moon letter” was also sent with the astronauts. The United States Post Office Department had hoped that the letter would be postmarked July 20 on the moon’s surface. Unfortunately for astrophilatelists, the moon letter never made it to the surface of the moon and was postmarked on July 22 (backdated to July 20) aboard the Columbia on the flight home. A facsimile of the moon letter and images of the die are on display in the exhibit.

The United States has returned to the lunar landing many times as inspiration for postage stamps. Despite U.S. regulations restricting anniversary commemorations on stamps to every 50 years, the U.S. issued a 20^th anniversary stamp in 1989, a 25^th anniversary stamp in 1994, and a commemoration in 1999 as part of the Celebrate the Century (1960s) series. The exhibit shows stamps and covers of all these events and more, as well as from stamp commemorations from other countries.

The United States Postal Service’s 50^th anniversary stamps will be issued on July 19. There are two designs. The first is a photograph taken by Neil Armstrong of Buzz Aldrin, unrecognizable in his space suit. The second is a photograph of the moon taken by Gregory H. Revera.  A USPS pictorial postmark for the stamp issuance has also been created. The Postal History Foundation will create special cachets to celebrate this significant event that will include the new stamps and the pictorial postmark. The cachets will be on display in the exhibit as well as for sale (sold out!).

Small Steps, Giant Leaps, and Lasting Memories: Celebrating the 1969 Moon Landing will run through mid-October 2019 in the Slusser Library at the Postal History Foundation. Please check our calendar or call 520-623-6652 to ensure the library is open during the time you’d like to visit.

The Arizona Philatelic Rangers are famous for the excellent and delicious meals they share at most major stamp shows. It’s a time to eat good food, reacquaint with and meet new good friends, and enjoy good conversation.

The ARIPEX 2019 dinner is open to all! 

Advanced registration is required.

The Rangers are proud to announce their guest speaker is Bernard Beston, President of the Federation Internationale de Philatelie, a network of 95 national philatelic federations based in Luxembourg. 

The dinner will be held at the family-owned and operated Il Vinaio Restaurant, 270 W. Main St., Mesa, AZ, about one mile from the ARIPEX venue.

The Arizona Philatelic Rangers hold their dinners are most major stamp shows. The Rangers are not only devoted philatelists, they are dedicated philanthropists. For over fifty years, the Rangers have supported the Postal History Foundation through annual monetary gifts, philatelic donations, legacy bequests, and other fundraisers. Thanks to the generosity of the Rangers, more youth are introduced to the world of stamps each year.

Please register for the Ranger dinner by downloading this letter and mailing it in with your check. We hope to see you there!