American Philatelic Society - Hall of Fame

Brandeberry was an active collector, philatelic lecturer and an accredited judge. He was also a stamp activist for the advancement of philately. Brandeberry devoted his philatelic life to services on behalf of many stamp societies.

He was a longtime member of the Society of Philatelic Americans, serving as vice-president and secretary from 1975 to 1982. Brandeberry served as president of the national-level Philadelphia, Pa. area exhibition, SEPAD. He was an officer of the American Philatelic Congress, and board member of the Council of Philatelic Organizations. He was also executive secretary of the American Academy of Philately. Brandeberry was an expert on fakes and forgeries, and frequently lectured on the subject.

Denison was an eminent collector, writer, expert, and exhibitor of Chinese philately. He began his interest in Chinese philately while working in Hong Kong in the 1930s. He built and exhibited an extensive collection of China that ranged from stamps to postal history, and from the classics to modern issues.

He was an early member of the China Stamp Society, (No. 52), was its president for twenty-five years (1956-1981), and was made president emeritus in 1981. He wrote extensively for its journal, the China Clipper, as well as other journals. Denison was active in the philatelic organizations in the Washington, D.C. area, serving as president of several clubs and as a trustee of the NAPEX organization. He was also a committee member for the Sixth International Philatelic Exhibition, SIPEX.

Catherine Lemmon Manning
(January 24, 1881 – April 14, 1957) Washington, D.C.

Manning was �Government Philatelist� at the National Museum (Smithsonian Institution) from 1922 until her retirement in 1949. She was then named Curator Emeritus, a position she held until her death. Manning was the second (and last) person to hold the title �Government Philatelist,� succeeding Joseph B. Leavy.

Stryker was an important stamp dealer and auctioneer and an acknowledged expert in U.S. 19th and 20th century stamps and covers. He entered the stamp business in 1928. In 1942 he joined Robert Laurence to form the auction house, Laurence and Stryker, which, between 1942 and 1960, sold many important U.S. covers and postal history.

"Kelly" made a number of important discoveries of previously unrecorded U.S. stamps. His greatest find was of the 1923 1¢ Franklin (Scott 596), printers waste from a vertical rotary printing used for sheet stamps. He also found the first unused copy of (Scott 594), the 1¢ Franklin of 1923, printers waste from a horizontal rotary press used to make coils. Both are great twentieth century U.S. rarities.

Stryker discovered the one-dollar Presidential issue of 1938 issued on paper watermarked USIR (Scott 832B), and then proceeded to search for more, acquiring some 400 examples.

In 1962, Stryker succeeded Winthrop S. Boggs as the second curator of the Philatelic Foundation, serving until 1976, and then continuing as Curator Emeritus for the rest of his life. He received its Mortimer Neinken Medal in 1989.

1991

Everett C. Erle
(May 10, 1906 – May 10, 1990) Oakland

Erle was a lifelong collector, exhibitor, writer, and editor who took an active part in international, national, and San Francisco Bay Area philately. His earliest interests were in aerophilately; he was editor of the West Coast Air Mail Society Journal. By the 1930s, he was a frequent writer in the journals of the time on ship cancels and other aspects of postal history.

Erle was a founder of the Council of Northern California Philatelic Societies, sponsors of the annual WESTPEX exhibition, and received its Chaloner award for outstanding service. He was president of the Philatelic Research Society of Oakland which later became the Western Philatelic Library, now located in Sunnyvale, Calif. In 1927 he helped found the San Jose Stamp Club.

Erle edited Western Express for the Western Cover Society from 1974 to 1986. He served WESTPEX for 25 years from its beginning, and held the title of Honorary Director at his death. He was a member of the Oakland Philatelic Society (now the East Bay Philatelic club) for 60 years and was its treasurer when he died. Erle had collections and exhibits that covered a wide range of topics. He supported many smaller clubs with frames of interesting material for their local exhibitions.

He joined the APS in 1925 and received his 50-year APS Membership medal in 1975. Erle attended many of its conventions, and following the death of �Uncle Billy� Stone, he was often the person present with the lowest APS Membership number (7772) at the general meetings of the society. He was thus given the honor of adjourning the meeting, �sine die.� Erle died while attending the London 1990 International Philatelic Exhibition.

Charles L. Towle
(May 2, 1913 � April 9, 1990) Michigan, Arizona

Towle was a noted collector, exhibitor, writer and editor on U.S. postal history, most notably on railroads and mobile post offices. In 1958, Towle co-authored, with Henry A. Meyer, Railroad Postmarks of the U.S., 1861-1886. He also wrote the four-volume United States Rates and Station Agent Markings (1986). Towle wrote extensively in the more than 50 years that he collected transit markings and received many awards for his work. He was president of the Mobile Post Office Society at his death.

Towle became Chairman of the Board of the Western Postal History Museum (now the Postal History Foundation) in 1973 and served until his death. He also edited its journal, The Heliograph, for three years.

Lynne S. Warm-Griffiths
(July 26, 1923 – August 22, 1990) New Orleans, New York, California

Warm-Griffiths was a noted collector and philatelic activist. Her collections of U.S. used abroad (1894-1904), Newspaper and Periodical stamps and First Bureau Issues won national and international awards. She was actively involved in the Crescent City Stamp Club (New Orleans), the Collectors Club of New York, and in her last years, the Federated Philatelic Clubs of Southern California and the SESCAL exhibition.

Warm-Griffiths also served the APS and the Philatelic Foundation and was the U.S. commissioner to several international philatelic exhibitions in the 1980s and to Stamp World London 1990.

1992

Dr. Ganz was a widely-known collector, author, and exhibitor of the stamps, postal history and postal stationery of Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Andorra. He also collected U.S. postal stationery, France, Monaco, Canada and a number of other areas. His �Pre-Confederation Switzerland 1748-1848� exhibit was in the APS Champion of Champions in 1979. He served as president of the American Helvetia Philatelic Society, the Chicago Philatelic Society and was an unopposed presidential candidate of the United Postal Stationery Society at his death.

Dr. Ganz was editor of Tell, the AHPS journal, for many years. He contributed many articles to it over two decades. His articles on Swiss postmarks written between 1970 and 1984 were posthumously published by AHPS as Postal Cancellations and Markings in Switzerland (1994).

Ganz also co-wrote (with R. H�rlemann and E.J. Ensched�) Perfins of Switzerland (1972). He wrote the column "Brief aus Chicago", for Berner Briefmarken Zeitung for many years.

Dr. Ganz was Commissioner Coordinator for AMERIPEX 86. The Chicago Philatelic Society awarded him its Newbury medal in 1980. He was elected to the APS Writers Unit Hall of Fame in 1988.

Clifford Washington Kissinger
(February 6, 1874 � January 28, 1938) Pennsylvania

Kissinger was a famous philatelist and editor, and was an active organizer of philatelic societies. He was a colorful figure called by some of his contemporaries the �little Napoleon of Philately.� He attended his first stamp convention in 1891 and seldom missed one throughout his life.

�Cliff� was a founder of the Sons of Philatelia in 1891, then left to organize the rival Philatelic Sons of America in 1893, serving as its first president. Both of these organizations were designed to attract young collectors into active philately. Later, he became president of the Southern Philatelic Association, and was influential in changing its name to the Society of Philatelic Americans in 1915.

Kissinger was editor and publisher of the Pennsylvania Philatelist, in which he expressed his views about the state of the hobby. He also published Kissinger's Philatelic Postal Card, a unique journal dedicated to his unabashed ego. He was an early member of APS and held several offices in the Society over his lifetime, including serving on the Publications Committee and as APS secretary.

Rapkin was a leading British philatelist who was a devoted and active participant in national and international philately. He served as chief executive for the international philatelic exhibitions held in London in 1980 and 1990. He was known for his collections of the German Empire first issues and of the German Colonies and Post Offices Abroad; both won many gold medals at international exhibitions.

Rapkin was a Council Member of the Royal Philatelic Society London from 1977 and served as its vice-president from 1988 until his death. He was chairman (1979�1985) and president (1985�1989) of the Germany and Colonies Philatelic Society.

Rapkin was chairman (1982-1988) and president (1988-1990) of the British Philatelic Federation, and served it as Keeper of the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists from 1978 until his death. He signed the Roll in 1984.

Roger Weill was a world-famous dealer of classic rarities. In 1932, the Raymond H. Weill Co. was formed with Roger, his brother Raymond and his father, Fernand. During the next 60 years, the Weill Co. became known as the greatest buyers of U.S and foreign rarities, and the builders of the great collections of the time.

�Weill of New Orleans� was known the world over for its purchases, such as the famous �Post Office Mauritius� cover which it bought in 1968 for $380,000, a record price for a philatelic item at the time. In 1988, Roger and Raymond received the Mortimer Neinken Medal from the Philatelic Foundation for distinguished service to philately.

Cole was a world-famous stamp dealer who, for over half a century, helped build most of the great collections of his time. He went to work as a stamp dealer in the 1920s, and by the mid-1930s had established his own business, which prospered greatly. During the next half-century �Ezra Cole, Nyack, N.Y.� bought and sold U.S. and Confederate rarities.

Cole was president of the ASDA, a governor of the Collectors Club of New York and president of the Association for Stamp Exhibitions. He received the Luff Award for Exceptional Contributions to Philately in 1970.

McDonald was an outstanding student, collector, writer and editor on U.S. classic stamps and postal history. She served the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society in several capacities including director and president (1984-1988). She was editor of The Chronicle of U.S. Classic Postal Issues for two decades; at her death she was editor-in-chief.

Her own collecting interests covered many areas, but most notable were her collections of U.S./Canada cross-border and Treaty mails. She wrote extensively on those topics and exhibited nationally and internationally. McDonald and Creighton C. Hart co-authored the Directory of 10� 1847 Covers (1970). Her by-line appeared many times in the Postal History Journal and she was its editor from 1973 to 1984.

McDonald was a frequent editor of books by noted authors. Among these was American Philatelic Miscellany (1976) which contained reprints of important articles taken from the The Stamp Specialist series published by Harry Lindquist between 1939 and 1947. She wrote a critique of each article, noting later work and suggesting further research. Among the authors of those articles were six members of the APS Hall of Fame: Ashbrook, Cabeen, Konwiser, Rich, Sloane and Tower.

McDonald received many honors, including the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society's Ashbrook Cup in 1971 and the Brookman cup in 1990. She received the Luff Award in 1986 for Exceptional Contributions to Philately, and the Lichtenstein Medal in 1989.

Bertram William Henry Poole
(March 22, 1880 � September 8, 1957) England, Los Angeles

Poole was one of the most prolific writers and editors in philatelic history. He began his philatelic career in 1899 in London, writing numerous monographs and contributing to several leading journals of the time.

He edited the West End Philatelist and The Philatelic Journal of Great Britain. His monographs included all seven of the West End Philatelist Handbooks (1908-1910) on various British Colonies and Bulgaria. He also wrote monographs on Dominica, Seychelles, Sarawak and South Africa.

Poole was an active stamp collector, with specialist collections of Haiti and South and Central America. He served as a judge at the 1913 International Philatelic Exhibition in New York City. He had moved to the United States just before this exhibition, and soon afterwards relocated to Los Angeles where he settled and became a noted dealer and auctioneer.

He wrote fourteen monographs on European and British Colonial stamps which were published in the Mekeels Handbook series between 1912 and 1923. Poole also wrote The Standard Philatelic Dictionary (1922) and The Pioneer Stamps of the British Empire (1957). He contributed numerous articles to the journals of his time, including his own Philatelic Opinion (1912-1931).

Hart was a well-known specialist of the U.S. 1847 issue. He built an outstanding collection, emphasizing the aspects of postal history and usages, which won awards at numerous international exhibitions. His collections of the free franks of U.S. presidents and their widows also won many awards.

He and Susan McDonald authored the Directory of 10� 1847 Covers (1970), which he subsequently expanded. Hart was a long-time editor of the 1847-1851 section of The Chronicle of U.S. Classic Postal Issues, writing extensively on this and other subjects. In 1970 he received the Luff Award for Distinguished Philatelic Research.

Howes was a world-renowned philatelist, author, expert and editor. He wrote Canada: Its Postage Stamps and Postal Stationery (1911), which was the primary reference work on Canada for many years.

Howes also wrote The Stamp Designs of Eastern Asia (1905), and "Postage Stamps and Stationery of the Hawaiian Island," which appeared Mekeel's Handbook No. 10 (1916).

He was an active member and officer of the American Philatelic Society, serving as president in 1915-1917. He was editor of The American Philatelist for many years. For 16 years he edited and prepared for publication William R. Ricketts' monumental The American Philatelic Society Index. It appeared serially in the AP from 1911 to 1926 and covered the subjects and countries, A to G.

Howes was one of the original group of philatelists who signed the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in 1921.

Dr. Kapiloff was an enthusiastic collector of 19th century U.S. stamps and postal history. His collection of the 1847-1857 issues won many gold medals, including the International Grand Prix at ISRAPHIL 85. He sold this collection in 1992, and built another world-famous collection: New York Postmaster Provisionals and the United States and City Despatch Posts.

Kapiloff was a trustee of the Philatelic Foundation from 1986 to 1988. In 1992 the PF presented him with the Mortimer Neinken Medal for meritorious service to philately.

Siegel was the founder and head of one of the leading stamp auction houses in the world. He held his first mail auction on May 28, 1931 in Kansas City, Missouri, and continued his auctions after moving to New York City in 1934. He held 756 auctions during his lifetime. Among the great collections sold by Siegel were those of Saul Newbury, Josiah K. Lilly, Clifford C. Cole and Morton D. Joyce.

Siegel held his first Rarity Sale in 1964, and it became an important annual philatelic event. Through these auctions, many of the great rarities were sold at record prices. He sold the unique 1-cent British Guiana on magenta on two occasions, in 1970 and 1980, bringing record prices.

He served on the Board of the American Stamp Dealers Association for 12 years. The ASDA named him its Man of the Year in 1990. Siegel also advised and supported the Philatelic Foundation since its founding. He received its Mortimer Neinken Medal in 1987, the first active dealer to be so-honored.

These biographies were prepared by the APS Hall of Fame Committee. For comments or suggestions, please contact Herbert A. Trenchard, Chairman, APS Hall of Fame Committee, 6909 40th Ave., Hyattsville, MD 20782-1420, or E-mail NPMLIB@yahoo.com.