The Spellman Museum of Stamps & Postal History, also commonly known as the Cardinal Spellman Philatelic Museum, is a non-for-profit organization dedicated to the appreciation of diversity through the medium of postage stamp

Postage stamp

A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...

s and 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...

.

Location

The museum is located at 235 Wellesley Street, at Regis College

Regis College

Regis College is a Roman Catholic liberal arts and sciences college located in Weston, Massachusetts. Founded as a women’s college in 1927, Regis became co-educational in 2007.-History:...

, Weston, Massachusetts

Weston, Massachusetts

Weston is a suburb of Boston located in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States in the Boston metro area. The population of Weston, according to the 2010 U.S. Census, is 11,261....

. The museum has limited hours and is open to the public on Thursdays through Sundays except in July and August when the museum is closed on Sundays. Special activities are held at the museum, and are listed in its schedule calendar.

History

The museum was founded in 1960, attended by a host of postal and philatelic dignitaries, and now contains over two million philatelic items, ranging from postage stamps, to postal history, to artifacts of communications through the mails. The collections that make up the museum are the personal collection of Cardinal Frances Spellman, the collections from the Philadelphia National Philatelic Museum

National Philatelic Museum

The National Philatelic Museum, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was a short-lived not-for-profit organization intended to create awareness for philately, and to offer courses on the subject of philately.-History:...

, and collections and portions of collections donated or loaned by other collectors such as Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...

, Jascha Heifetz

Jascha Heifetz

Jascha Heifetz was a violinist, born in Vilnius, then Russian Empire, now Lithuania. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time.- Early life :...

, and General Matthew Ridgway

Matthew Ridgway

Matthew Bunker Ridgway was a United States Army General. He held several major commands and was most famous for resurrecting the United Nations war effort during the Korean War. Several historians have credited Ridgway for turning around the war in favor of the UN side...

. Its principal mission is to allow learning of diversity, history

History

History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...

, and geography

Geography

Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...

through its philatelic exhibits, library, resource center, and programs for children.

The Spellman philosophy

Cardinal Spellman, around 1950, wrote:

Funding

The museum is supported by grants, donations, admission fees, an endowment fund, and other sources of donated funds.

Organization

The museum is administered by a Board of Trustees, a museum staff, a Director’s Round Table of friends it can call upon for advice and support, and a number of dedicated volunteers.

Special services

The museum, at a nominal charge, will evaluate philatelic collections, extract archived collections for private viewing, and allow use of its facilities (space rental).