Judge David D. Caldwell of Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, was a noted philatelist

Philately

Philately is the study of stamps and postal history and other related items. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting, which does not necessarily involve the study of stamps. It is possible to be a philatelist without owning any stamps...

 known to his stamp collecting friends as ““Washington's Number One Philatelist.”

Philatelic activity

Judge Caldwell – an honorary title given to him by his philatelic friends – was very involved in the organizing of stamp collecting

Stamp collecting

Stamp collecting is the collecting of postage stamps and related objects. It is one of the world's most popular hobbies, with the number of collectors in the United States alone estimated to be over 20 million.- Collecting :...

 in the Washington, D.C. area. In 1937 he was responsible for organizing the National Stamp Conference, and, in 1940, he was chairman of the Postage Stamp Centenary Convention and Exhibition, which celebrated the centenary of the world’s first postage stamp, the English penny black

Penny Black

The Penny Black was the world's first adhesive postage stamp used in a public postal system. It was issued in Britain on 1 May 1840, for official use from 6 May of that year....

 which was issued in 1840, an event that could not be celebrated internationally in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 at that time because of British preoccupation with the start of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Judge Caldwell was also one of the founders and a trustee of NAPEX (National Philatelic Exhibition) which, since 1950, held philatelic exhibitions in Washington, D.C.

Judge Caldwell was a member of the American Philatelic Society

American Philatelic Society

The American Philatelic Society is the largest nonprofit stamp collecting and organization of philately in the world, with almost 44,000 members from 110 countries...

 and served as its lawyer when the need occurred. He was also an advisor to the U.S. Post Office Department.

Honors and awards

Caldwell was named to the American Philatelic Society Hall of Fame

American Philatelic Society Hall of Fame

The American Philatelic Society Hall of Fame award honors deceased philatelists who have contributed significantly to the field of national and/or international philately.-History:...

in 1953.