Click the play button above for a special message.

The National Postal Museum, a Smithsonian Institution museum, is located in the old Post Office building next to Union Station in Washington, D.C. The Museum was created by an agreement between the Smithsonian Institution and the United States Postal Service in 1990 and opened to the public in 1993.

The Museum is dedicated to the preservation, study and presentation of postal history and philately. The museum uses exhibits, educational public programs and research to make this rich history available to scholars, philatelists, collectors and visitors from around the world.

The National Postal Museum offers a variety of materials and services for educators and students.

An Online Audio Tour of the National Postal Museum
Listen to this special audio tour in which K. Allison Wickens introduces the National Postal Museum and its many educational resources.

Arago™ Online Collection Database
Arago™, the Museum’s educational and research Web site, presents the collections in a context-rich setting with full color images and zoom-in capability.

Arago Featured Collections
Arago™ Research Participants and the National Postal Museum staff create unique exhibits that juxtapose personal selections of museum objects and exceptional private collections to present interesting interpretations and great history.

Navigating Arago
Take a special self-guided tour of Arago prepared especially for the Smithsonian Online Conference Series.

Stamp Stories of Abraham Lincoln
History teachers, do your students’ eyes glaze over when you mention a study review for the big test coming up? If so, then break the mold with this fun and engaging activity. Stamp Stories emphasizes visual learning with authentic U.S. postage stamps, pictorial windows into American history. In this lesson, students build their own stamp collections to show what they’ve learned and debate why their stamps reflect the history of Abraham Lincoln.

Victory Mail
Grades 2-12
These activities provide a creative way to teach writing skills – letter writing for elementary and middle school – and about World War II as well as writing for high school students. In conjunction with the National Postal Museum’s online exhibition Victory Mail along with textbooks and other resources already in use in the classroom, these materials will help students understand aspects of patriotism during wartime, and the significance of personal correspondence by focusing on the efforts made by civilians on the home front during the war. Students will likely find learning about V-Mail an interesting way to engage in writing and social studies lessons.

We Were There: Letters From the Battle Front
Grades 7 – 12
Activity book and resource guide that uses historic letters, envelopes and commemorative stamps from American wars to engage students in historic analysis.

Postal Pack for Elementary School Students
Grades K – 6
Collection of illustrated activity sheets that teach about postal transportation history, and encourage letter writing and an appreciation of stamps and historic letters.

Stamp Mural Mosaics
Grades K – 6
Stamps are exciting, educational tools! Using stamps, you can explore other countries, learn about history, and experience art. The activities on this web page will show you and your students how to use cancelled stamps for a variety of creative projects.

War Letters: Lost and Found
"War Letters: Lost and Found" features original letters from the Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam that were lost or abandoned and then rediscovered by strangers.

A Nation Divided
When the conflict between the northern and southern states finally exploded into war, tearing the country apart, the nation’s communication system was also ripped in two. The system instituted to unify the country through the dissemination of information was instead used to solidify the break.

Posted Aboard R.M.S. Titanic
The tragic sinking of the R.M.S. Titanic has captivated our imaginations for decades. Among those who lost their lives when the ship sank were the ship’s five postal clerks.

As Precious as Gold
This online exhibit examines the great Klondike Gold Rush and the unforgettable role of the mail carrier in providing contact between those so far from home and the families they left behind.

Art of the Stamp
Compelling works of art that serve, in the words of W.B. Yeats, as "the silent ambassadors on national taste."

Research Section of National Postal Museum Web Site
The "Research" section of the Museum’s web site includes an array of primary and secondary source material. The section features links to the Video Zone, Photographic Archives, National History Day, Museum Library, Online Articles, among others.