APC Grows, Welcomes Former PHS
by Nancy B. Clark, President
Welcome to 2021. We’ve all had a challenging year, but there are some changes in place now which will have impact on our future as a society. The Board held a virtual meeting where several issues were resolved, and which will lead to a stronger future for research in philately to continue in the following years. This is a history-making year!
The biggest change is the absorption into the American Philatelic Congress of the Postal History Society. This means your membership will, besides our award-winning hardcover original postal research tome, a supplemental softbound journal based on worldwide postal history and including congress news. Our dues have been raised for the first time in a long time, reflecting on the postal rate increases and the publishing costs for full color on high-quality paper. We are very thankful for the generosity of many members, making it possible to keep the dues within a reasonable range. Unfortunately, it also means that we must charge libraries to cover our mailing expenses.
Our Editor, Seija-Riitta Laakso, is hard at work shaping articles for the 2021 Congress Book, but I know she’s always looking for more high-quality original research articles. If you have something you’ve been meaning to develop into an article too large for a normal journal, contact Seiju (seijulaakso@gmail.com) to see if it would fit into her plans for the 2021 American Philatelic Congress book. Diane DeBlois (agatherin@yahoo.com) is looking for shorter articles to share which focus on postal history for the APC Postal History Journal.
We welcome a new Board member who has joined us from the Postal History Society. Yamil Kouri, the Past President of the Postal History Society, continues, joined by Douglas Clark, who has been a member of the APC longer than I have! We also welcome the Postal History Society members to our organization, and hope you enjoy your new benefits.
I’ve been paying my philatelic societies dues—way too many interests and so lots of dues. With each group, I consider the benefits of membership. For the American Philatelic Congress–Postal History Society, the most obvious benefit is a hard-bound book with color illustrations and a variety of disciplines within the hobby. And now, we have the additional benefit of a journal based on postal history. Another major benefit, when shows again become a reality to attend in person, is the author presentations, where you have the opportunity to actually interact with these experts. And then there is the wine and cheese gathering, generously underwritten by Schuyler Rumsey. We are a group of like-minded serious philatelists who value study and community within philately. This is your chance to sit with and chat up similarly inclined friends. Simple choice. Renew—and get one of your friends to join!