Delf Norona of West Virginia

West Virginia

West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

, was a student of philately

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...

 who wrote on subjects of postal history

Postal history

Postal history is the study of postal systems and how they operate and, or, the study of postage stamps and covers and associated material illustrating historical episodes of postal systems...

, including postal history of the state of West Virginia

West Virginia

West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

.

Philatelic activity

Norona was very active in stamp collecting in the Ohio Valley area of West Virginia, founding the Ohio Valley Stamp Club in Wheeling, West Virginia

Wheeling, West Virginia

Wheeling is a city in Ohio and Marshall counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia; it is the county seat of Ohio County. Wheeling is the principal city of the Wheeling Metropolitan Statistical Area...

, in 1935. He was a student of postal history of the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

and especially West Virginia. Because of his interest in West Virginia postal history, he worked with West Virginia historical societies, such as the West Virginia Historical Society, the West Virginia Archeological Society, and the West Virginia Civil War Centennial Commission.

Philatelic literature

At the American Philatelic Congress Norona presented his paper Preparation of Technical Philatelic Articles at the first meeting of the society in December 1935. In 1933 he edited the first volume of Cyclopedia of United States Postmarks and Postal History, and in 1935 he edited the second volume of the series. Norona wrote numerous articles on various aspects of United States postal history, and, in 1935, he published his General Catalogue of United States Postmarks.