Keeper of the Past and Promise of our People
By collecting, researching and sharing women’s history, we aim to tell a more complete American story and empower future generations.
Our new book “Smithsonian American Women” has more than 280 artifacts from 16 of our museums and archives. It’s available today from Smithsonian Books: womenshistory.si.edu #BecauseOfHerStory
Source The Magical World of Stamp Collecting. 2018, ATA
| Tool | Description |
| A. Stamp Tongs | I will use this to handle my stamps so that I don’t get them dirty or damage them. |
| B. Glassine Envelopes | If I want to store lots of stamps without having to get a stock book, I can use these see-through envelopes. |
| C. Mounts | I might use these to protect expensive stamps when I put them in an album. |
| D. Stamp Album | This is what I can put my stamps into once they are organized and I am ready to show them off. |
| E. Magnifying Glass | When I want to look at my stamps closely, I can use this. |
| F. Perforation Gauge | When my stamps have different sized perforations, I can use this to tell them apart. |
| G. Watermark Tray | When I have stamps that look the same, but may have different watermarks as pictured in a catalog, here is what I’ll use. |
| H. Catalogues | I need this to tell how old my stamps are, what their designs show, and what their values are. |
| I. Stock Books | I can use this to store my duplicates, or stamps waiting to be put into my album. |
| J. Hinges | I can use these to put my stamps into my album. |
Senator Hiram Revels may appear on a stamp some day. Here a brief summary of his life and a link to the full article.
Revels was elected by a vote of 81 to 15 in the Mississippi State Senate to finish the term of one of the state’s two seats in the US Senate left vacant since the Civil War. The seat had once been held by Albert G. Brown, who withdrew from the US Senate in 1861.
The election of Revels was met with opposition from Southern conservative Democrats who cited the Dred Scott Decision which was considered by many to have been a central cause of the American Civil War. They argued that no black man was a citizen before the 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868. Because election to the Senate required nine years’ prior citizenship, opponents of Revels claimed he could not be seated, having been a citizen by law for only two years. Supporters of Revels countered by stating that the Dred Scott decision applied only to those blacks who were of pure African blood. Revels was of mixed black and white ancestry, and therefore exempt, they said, and had been a citizen all his life. This argument prevailed, and on February 25, 1870, Revels, by a vote of 48 to 8, became the first black man to be seated in the United States Senate.
Source: https://worldhistoryproject.org/1870/2/25/hiram-revels-becomes-the-first-african-american-elected-to-us-senate