In this episode, we’ll take you on an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the Postal Museum with Elliot Gruber, Director of the Postal Museum. Get ready to uncover the story behind its inception, learn about the creative process behind its innovative exhibits, and gain insights into its exciting plans for the future.
This week on Mailin' It, we step into the world of the National Postal Museum, discovering the rich American history and culture woven into its exhibits. Guiding us on this fascinating journey is none other than Elliot Gruber, Director of the Postal Museum. Join us as Elliot shares his deep knowledge and passion for the museum's mission, giving us an inside perspective on the remarkable work they do.
Karla Kirby:
Hello and welcome to Mailin’ It, the official podcast of the United States Postal Service. I'm your host, Karla Kirby. Washington DC is well known for having a lot of great museums, but one of my favorites is the Smithsonian Institute's National Postal Museum. Why is that? Well, I'm always impressed at how they're able to reach into so many aspects of American culture in order to create their exhibits. In this episode, we're going to give you a behind the scenes look at the postal museum. We'll talk about why it was created, how they come up with the ideas for their exhibits, and what's in store for the future. Here to take us on that tour is Elliot Gruber, the Postal Museum's director. Elliot, welcome to Mailin’ It!
Elliot Gruber:
Good morning, Karla. It's a pleasure to join you today to talk about one of my favorite subjects, the Smithsonian National Postal Museum.
Karla Kirby:
So tell me a little bit about yourself before we embark upon our journey about the Postal Museum.
Elliot Gruber:
Sure. Well, I became the director of the Smithsonian National Postal Museum in September of 2017, and I've always worked in the nonprofit sector now at this point, for more than 30 years. My first museum experience was at Gettysburg National Military Park, where I was hired to relaunch the capital campaign for the new museum and visitor center that was being built. And that was back in 2002. But while I was at the Gettysburg Foundation, I began to take on additional museum related responsibilities, including retail, restaurant operations, visitor services, facilities, exhibits, of course. Ultimately I became the Chief Operating Officer there. And it was really that experience that I realized that I wanted to spend the rest of my career in the museum world. So from Gettysburg, I went on to lead the Mariners Museum and Park in Newport News, Virginia. Most people don't know that the Mariners Museum has the largest maritime related collection in the Western hemisphere. In addition, it also has over 500 acres of parks and trails. So, and from there I was just very fortunate to be hired as the director of the Smithsonian National Postal Museum.
Karla Kirby:
Well, it sounds like you have a lot of great experience with museums. What prompted you to take the reigns on with the Postal Museum?
Elliot Gruber:
You know, I consider working at the Smithsonian in honor. The 20 museums that under the Smithsonian banner plus the National Zoo represent the nation's treasures. In essence, we're the ministry of culture for the country. And because we represent the nation's museums, it's also a tremendous responsibility to bring stories to life in a meaningful way so that people visiting the Smithsonian, whether it's on onsite or online, can have fun. They can be entertained and of course they can learn. But specifically with the Postal Museum, I remember being interviewed by the Secretary of the Smithsonian before I accepted the job. And he said, while the Smithsonian has 20 museums and the National Zoo, most people know us for the large museums, Natural History Museum, American History, Air and Space. And he goes, I need help. And the challenge that they laid before me was that I need help to bring what some perceive as the niche museum and to bring it more mainstream.
And for me, that excited me because most people don't realize that postal history is American history. And just for an in instance, if I may, and if you think of the founding of our country and the stamp tax, we have that on display on original copy from the stamp tax. You think about the Titanic that's on display at the Postal museum, the Pony Express, most people are aware of the Pony Express. We have that on display along with a letter canceled on the moon. So we have some very interesting, unique aspects of the stories that we can tell. And we always say that stamps tell the story. Stamps celebrate history. They celebrate heritage, events, people. And if you think about what this country has chosen to celebrate and chosen to commemorate, they've put most of those things on stamps. So that means we can tell basically any story in American history. So when you asked me what attracted me to the position, I wanted to really play a part in telling those amazing stories about how the Postal Service has helped shaped our nation.
Karla Kirby:
So the postal Museum definitely occupies a unique niche upon the Smithsonian's Museums. Can you gimme a little bit more about why it was created?
Elliot Gruber:
The National Postal Museum was created in November, 1990 when the Smithsonian, the United States Postal Service signed a joint agreement. And the museum officially opened July 30th, 1993. And the Postal Museum's mission is dedicated to the preservation and study of not only postal history and that collection, but also study of our postage stamps. We were specifically created to showcase how the Postal Service has served and supported our country for, at this point, nearly 250 years. And of course, we are located right next to Union Station, the train station in what is the former main post office of Washington DC. So there really couldn't be a more appropriate place for us to be.
Karla Kirby:
So when you think about it, and as you mentioned, the Postal Service has been around for more than 250 years, but the museum is now celebrating 30 years. So how has postal history been preserved before that?
Elliot Gruber:
So actually, you know, while we were created in 1993, and that's when we opened our doors. The Smithsonian started gathering philatelic and postal history material as early as the 1880s with - I think it was - a donation of a Ten-cent Confederate postage stamp. But from 1908 to 1963, the collection was housed in what was then called the Smithsonian's Arts and Industries Building which was on the National Mall from 1964. The collection was then moved to a museum that is now known as the National Museum of American History. And then from there was ultimately moved to the postal museum, but they did not have enough space to really bring out all these stories and to bring out these items in our collection. Because remember, we also have 6 million items in our collection. We have the second largest collection of any of the 20 Smithsonian museums. Only Natural History has more.
Karla Kirby:
So your approach to running the museum goes well beyond setting up a bunch of exhibits for stamp collectors. In fact, your philosophy seems to take what's on those stamps and bring them to life. How did you come about that approach?
Elliot Gruber:
I think most people think of us as a stamp museum. And yes, we have stamps, we have a lot of stamps. Our William H. Gross Stamp Gallery is the largest stamp gallery in the world. It's also the best, and it is an incredible experience whether or not you know anything about stamps. So, you know, our mission is to educate. It's to challenge and inspire audiences. So to be successful, we have to reach a broad audience and to do so in a way that is relevant and in a way that I believe should take people by surprise. So let me give you an example just in terms of some of the thinking that I have. You know, if we were gonna do an exhibit on sharks, on stamps the traditional way of doing that would basically, you kind of walk into a gallery, you see an initial introductory panel describing the stamps and what you're about to see.
And then you walk around a room and you see stamps and stamp art. But imagine, if you will, if you had to get to that gallery going through a shark tank, that literally you get into the shark tank, the door closes behind you and you're physically being lowered. And as you're physically being lowered, you see sharks swimming around you. As you hit down to the bottom, the cage rattles because the shark has just hit the tank. And then the doors are open there and you walk into a space that is lit as if you're under the sea. And you start looking around. Your eyes are adjusting. You look up at the ceiling and you see the hull of a ship. You also see videos around you that the sharks are swimming around you. And then at then we actually then show you the stamps, the stamp artwork, maybe it's, you know skeleton of a shark and those sorts of things. But now we've opened and engaged your mind and senses in a way that you were not expecting. And I think most people would rather have that kind of experience. And with all the time restrictions that we all have on our, you know, freedom on weekends and whatnot, everyone has different options of where they want to go and what they wanna experience. And so how do we stand apart? And I think it's creating experiences like that that you'll enjoy and that you'll also tell your friends about.
Karla Kirby:
So Elliot, I'm gonna tell you that shark stamp example sounds absolutely phenomenal. Can you give me other stamps that you've brought to life in that sort of manner?
Elliot Gruber:
Well, maybe not stamps, but maybe, I think a good example might be the Titanic. So people are always surprised that we have artifacts related to the Titanic. And most people recognize that the full name of the Titanic is the RMS Titanic. And what does the RMS stand for Royal Mail Ship. So basically we have items that come off of one of the Sea Postal clerks at the Titanic. And we have a pocket watch. That pocket watch is stopped at 1:27. The Titanic officially sank a half hour later. So we can tell an unexpected story of postal history with artifacts that you would not expect to see at the Postal museum for a story you thought you might be getting somewhere at a maritime museum, for instance. And then if you think about where we are in the postal square building.
So in the 1950s, the Hope Diamond was being donated to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. The Hope Diamond came physically through the main post office of Washington DC which is where we're now located. As you know, the Hope Diamond everyone knows, is on display at the National Museum of Natural History. But what they don't know is that we actually have the packaging, the Hope Diamond came in. So it costs roughly about $2.45 to mail the Hope Diamond from New York City to Washington, DC and another couple hundred dollars, or I think it was about $145 to ensure the Hope Diamond for about a million dollars. So on its way to the Smithsonian National History Museum, it came through our, what is now our National Postal Museum, and we have that story to tell.
Karla Kirby:
So you're using postal history as a lens for viewing American culture in history. How have you used that to the museum's advantage?
Elliot Gruber:
I think we have changed our approach a little bit with my arrival. We really used to think of ourselves as a philatelic and Postal History Museum, but that is actually our collection. We're a history museum, and by doing so, that really has freed up the opportunity to tell more and different stories. So if you think about Alexander Hamilton… Alexander Hamilton, the Hamilton Show was coming to the Kennedy Center in Washington DC and we, like other museums in the Washington DC area had a small Alexander Hamilton display of material, you know, related to postal history related to stamps and that sort of thing. But actually the other thing we ended up adding into that exhibit were two additional artifacts. And they were the pistols that Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr used in their dual on July 11th, 1804, where the sitting Vice President of the United States of America shot and killed the former Secretary of the Treasury.
And people wanted to see those pistols. They're part of American history. And when they came to see the pistols, guess what, they also came in and they saw this incredible museum. And I think that is part of what we're looking to do, to continue to change. We also have a baseball exhibit. The exhibit is called Baseball: America's Home Run, and it showcases stamps, stamp art, and other postal material. But at the same time, we borrowed from five other Smithsonian museums. We borrowed from the Baseball Hall of Fame and two prominent baseball collectors. So in addition to the stamp and the stamp art, which, you know, for instance we're showing, you know, the Jackie Robinson original stamp art and the Jackie Robinson stamp, but we also showcased a ticket and a program from his first game in the Major leagues. And we also showcased actually one of the jerseys that he wore.
So we can talk about that aspect of American history. Right now we have a bat on display from Babe Ruth. He used it in 1920, his debut season with the New York Yankees, in which he hit 54 home runs, and almost single handedly saved the game of baseball from the 1919 World Series gambling scandal. That's part of our exhibit along with the postal history and the Philatelic items. And since I'm a Yankee fan, maybe I'll show my prejudice here. We also have a jacket that Lou Gehrig wore when as team captain, he went to the home up to home plate umpire at Detroit's Brigg stadium on May 2nd, 1939, and benched himself. It was the first time Gehrig had not played in a Yankee game since 1925. His record of 2,130 games stood until Baltimore Orioles Cal Ripkin broke it on September 6th, 1995. So we can tell these stories. And from the Baseball Hall of Fame, we have a probably, I think my, one of the most moving artifacts on display. We have a telegram from postal workers in Texas who was sent to baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis on December 2nd, 1943. And remember, this is now during World War II, and in part it reads “if Negroes are good enough to appear in the casualty list, then we feel they're also good enough to appear on the box scores of our Great American pastime” and baseball began integrating four years later.
Karla Kirby:
Great history. Great history. But I have to say, if you don't have anything from the Washington Nationals World Series Championship, I don't know how you can complete your baseball collection.
Elliot Gruber:
What we have a great partnership with Washington Nationals, and I would love to, let's just say have loaned the World Series Trophy for a little bit. But we are working with them on their school and their kids programs. They're, they're a very, very strong partner of ours.
Karla Kirby:
So you mentioned something that I found interesting. So there are some artifacts or items that the Smithsonian owns and some that are loaned. Can you explain that process or how that works?
Elliot Gruber:
Sure. So, you know, first and foremost, when we create an exhibit experience we look at to see what is in our collection because we have a tremendous amount of items in the postal museum's collection. Next, we will look to other Smithsonian museums, and then we look to outside institutions or individuals. So for our baseball collection for our baseball exhibition, we have a large number of items from our collection and the Smithsonian. But then to supplement that exhibit experience, we are also looking for other loans from other institutions or individuals. In the case of two of the prominent collectors, they have some material that is rarely seen in public. And we thought that that would really amplify the story that we could tell about Baseball: America's Home Run and the story we wanna tell related to postal history and philately.
Karla Kirby:
So in addition, of course, to these artifacts and other items, of course, the postal museum would not be a museum if we did not have stamps, of course. Right. Would you agree? So when we talk about stamp collections, what is the largest collection we have on hand at our, at the museum?
Elliot Gruber:
Well, of the 6 million items that we have in our collection, most of those are stamp related. So it's original stamps, stamp artwork and, and other things related to that like dies and casts and those sorts of things. I would say we probably have one of the largest philatelic collections in the world. And, you know, so the goal for us at this juncture is to make sure that we bring that material to life, not only in exhibits in a new and interesting ways, but that we also digitize our collection so that individuals who are scholars, individuals who are stamp collectors, or just the general public can see the treasures that we certainly have in our, in our vault.
Karla Kirby:
So as the postal museum, are we the largest collection of stamps? Or is there a larger museum somewhere else that also houses stamps?
Elliot Gruber:
In the United States, we are the, the largest, and we have the, we have the, the National Philatelic collection, and we also have the postal history collection. And that is by agreement with the US Postal Service. So every year we get a transfer of stamps and original stamp art that we add to the collection. So in addition to when I talk about stamps, we also have a very large art collection. And so we have over 6,000 pieces of artwork mostly related to stamp art. So we have artwork that actually Norman Rockwell was designing a stamp. And so we have some of those original art samples.
Karla Kirby:
During your tenure, what is your most interesting, or would you say your favorite exhibit that you've stood up at the museum?
Elliot Gruber:
I think the way I would answer that question is really not an exhibit, but it was a moment in time when I first arrived, and that related to the Hamilton exhibit that we did, and where we brought in the two pistols that were used in the dual because we had to start thinking about our exhibits a little bit differently so that we can appeal to our broader public. And that really resonated not just within the staff and in the Smithsonian, but our visitation was the highest we've ever had. And I think that showed what the possibilities are for the postal museum moving forward.
Karla Kirby:
So it seems like as a whole, museums have absolutely changed with the times. In fact, for a while during the heart of the COVID pandemic, many of the museums were shut down. What have been the biggest changes and how has the Postal Museum adapted?
Elliot Gruber:
Yeah. And that was an incredibly difficult time for all of us individually, you know, just surviving. And certainly for the museums. We closed down for our temporarily closed down for almost two years at the Smithsonian Postal Museum. I think in particular, we learned that we can be successful creating virtual environments. Because before most of the time and effort at all museums was on the visitor that came through your doors, your physical doors. And so the virtual world reaches many more people. So we can, we learn how to tell better stories online, and we're still learning that. I think that that evolution is, is still progressing. And, but, you know, so how do you use multimedia technologies? How for, you know, I think if you remember pre-covid QR codes, you know, they came and they went, and now with covid, they're back with a vengeance.
You go to a restaurant and you know, you scan the QR code for your menu. We're doing the same thing at the poster museum. So if you're going through our baseball exhibit, you can see these QR codes to get additional information that we're not able to share because of space limitations. And conversely, we've now added almost 30 videos to our online experience. So if you can never make it to the postal museum and see our baseball exhibit, you can see the baseball museum from your own home. And I think those are some important lessons that we've learned. You know, our education department has created new and actually award-winning programs that really engage people of all ages. And that was particularly hard because we were known for our onsite very large, very attractive, family friendly programs, and all of a sudden, your doors are closed. So how do you reach those same people in meaningful ways? And so now people are coming back into the museum, but at the same time, we're focusing more resources on our online or what we call our virtual experiences.
Karla Kirby:
So I think we're starting to see how stamps and postal history are really just the starting point for a great museum experience. You really are only limited by your imagination and of course, budget, I suppose. So when we talk about what's on the horizon for the postal museum, what can you share with the listeners?
Elliot Gruber:
Sure. Well, right now we are planning an exhibit on voting by mail both virtual and onsite exhibit which we believe will be an important topic in 2024, given the interest in 2020 for the last presidential election. And to actually let people know that voting by mail is not a new phenomenon. Did you know that voting, that the earliest voting by mail item in the post museum's collection is from the Civil War? It's an election cover. And in the summer of 1864 as election day, the presidential election day approach, several states passed emergency legislation allowing their troops serving in the Civil War to vote. The 1864 election was particularly bitter. The incumbent Republican Abraham Lincoln was squaring off against the Democratic nominee major General George B. McClellan, whom Lincoln had removed from command following the 1862 Maryland campaign. The Democrats saw absentee voting as a Republican plot to stuff the ballot boxes and challenged its constitutionality and state courts. And in most cases, they lost that challenge. And more than half the states in the union ultimately proceeded with absentee voting. So we have an envelope sent from a Union Army Field Hospital containing a tally sheet recording the votes of Highland County soldiers for the state presidential election. And we have continued to collect items related to voting by mail. And so we think that'll be a particularly timely and interesting story to tell in the summer of 2024.
Karla Kirby:
Absolutely. Well, I have to tell you, Elliot, this has not only been in informative, but it's been absolutely fascinating for me. I cannot wait to get to the museum in the near future to see some of the exhibits that you've outlined. Is there anything else or any suggestions you would like to provide for our listeners or people that are looking to visit the museum?
Elliot Gruber:
2025 is the 250th anniversary of the Postal Service, and that is a momentous occasion for the Postal Service and for our country. And if you think about it, 1775 when the Postal Service was created, it's a year before our country was founded. That's how important the Postal Service has been to our country from then and continues to be. And so we are gonna be bringing out some items from our collection that, that come that date back to the founding of our country. For instance, we have a signed letter from Benjamin Franklin that is allowing William Goddard to travel between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Boston, Massachusetts, or we also have a letter addressed to John Hancock with a postmark dated July 4th, 1776 that is in our collection. We wanna bring these, these items and others in our collection out to tell a story that is interesting that you're not going to expect.
Elliot Gruber:
So I would encourage everyone to go to our website which is postmuseum.si.edu. And that will have information such as our hours, our operations, upcoming programs as well as upcoming exhibitions. The Voting by Mail exhibition will launch summer of next year. We don't have an exact date yet. And also, you know, we're open Sunday every day of the, of the week, 10 to 5:30 with the exception that we are closed Christmas Day. So hopefully we'll have many more visitors flooding in and learning unexpected stories in new and interesting ways to the Postal Museum, and really appreciate the opportunity to talk a little bit more about the Postal Museum, our history, and our future.
Karla Kirby:
Well, I wanna thank you again, Elliot, for joining us today. As I mentioned, this has been very informational and hopefully our listeners will get a chance to visit the postal museum in the near future. Thank you for being here.
Elliot Gruber:
Thank you very much, Karla.
Karla Kirby:
Well, that brings us to this episode’s Did You Know. For my interesting fact this episode, let's take a trip in the way back time machine. Did you know that on March 23rd, 1970 thousands of federal troops were sent to the New York City area with orders to sort the millions of pieces of mail that had been piling up in post offices. Why was so much mail sitting in one place rather than being delivered? Because a few days earlier, letter carriers in New York City and many other parts of the country had walked off the job to protest, pay and working conditions. Although it was illegal for postal workers to strike 152,000 other employees in 671 locations joined the walkout. The troops didn't do home deliveries, but they did end up delivering 2 million pieces of mail to city businesses and nonprofit groups. Another 3 million pieces were handed over to customers who chose to pick it up at their local post offices. Fortunately for everyone involved, the strike ended two days later with the start of negotiations for a general wage increase. What happened next would transform the Postal Service. But that's a story for another episode.
So we had a great episode today with Elliot Grouper from the Postal Service Museum. I encourage everyone, check out the museum, the new exhibits, and stay tuned for more information.
That wraps up this episode of Mailin’ It. Don't forget to subscribe to mailing it wherever you get your podcast to make sure you don't miss the next episode. And follow along on Instagram at US Postal Service, Twitter @usps, and on Facebook.