“Perforated Propaganda”

With Daniel Piazza Assistant Curator of Philately at the Smithsonian Institution's National Postal Museum

Thursday, April 23, 2009 at 8 p.m.
Caltech’s Beckman Auditorium
Admission is free!

From 1933 until his death in 1945, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was America's foremost philatelist. As a stamp collector, Roosevelt understood that the common postage stamp's ubiquitousness made it a perfect medium for projecting political messages at home and abroad. During his twelve years as president, Roosevelt and his Postmasters General actively used the nation's stamps to sell New Deal projects, reinforce his role and authority as president, promote his personal interests and affiliations, and encourage optimism and hope during the Great Depression and World War II. In short, he harnessed their propaganda potential in a way that no administration before or since has matched.

This talk will be illustrated with material from the Smithsonian National Postal Museum's collections and the upcoming exhibit Delivering Hope: FDR and the Stamps of the Great Depression.

Don't forget to check out Pasadena Playhouse's current production of Mauritius about rare stamp collecting!