American Philatelic Research Library Recieves Major Gift

American Philatelic Research Library (APRL)  has announced that Thomas J. Alexander has donated his entire postal history research archive and library to the APRL.
 
According to an e-mail announcement by the APRL, "The donation includes Alexander’s entire philatelic library, consisting of many hundreds of books, along with copious notes, clippings, and research files. The materials reflect his broad range of interests, including but not limited to the early United   States postal issues, steamboat mail, western forts, and the postal history of Kansas and Missouri.  Also included are many photocopies of collections and exhibits, both his own and those of other now-departed postal historians. Over the coming months, the assemblage of materials will be inventoried in detail, catalogued, and stored for use by philatelic scholars."

The gift was facilitated by the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society Inc. (USPSC), of which Alexander was President in 1981-1984. The USPCS provided a grant to cover shipping the 326 bankers boxes to Bellefonte, and the hiring of a library intern to process the collection and create a finding aid.

Shown above, Tara Murray, Director of Information Services/Librarian with some of the donated material. 

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