Curators of a Colossal Collection

Rhode Island's Johnston Sun Rise reports,"What do George S. Champlin, Robert T. Galkin and Col. Webster Knight have in common? All were stamp collectors. Being men of means, they assembled huge and valuable collections. All three collections are now part of the Brown University Special Collections, housed in the John Hay Library."

Reporter Beth Hurd goes on to write, "Now, three other men who are also stamp collectors are the caretakers of the assembled collection, worth an estimated $20 million: Louis McGowan, Thomas Greene and Chester Browning. McGowan is also the president of the Johnston Historical Society, Greene is a noted historian from North Providence and Browning is the retired state photographer and is also archivist for T.F. Green Airport. All are members of the Rhode Island Philatelic Society, the oldest continuously run stamp-collecting club in the United States. Browning is currently president of the society."

Green is quoted as saying, "“The unique thing about this collection is that it's blocks." According to the paper,the collection has, among other items, blocks of the first US postage stamps and the first “provisional stamps” issued in Providence in 1846.

Shown above, volunteer curators Tom Greene and Louis McGowan.

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