Highlights Tour
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Public programs and events at the National Postal Museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Could you be a postal clerk? In this activity, a volunteer challenges you to sort mail, deciding which letters will be delivered and which would be sent to the Dead Letter Office. Complete the challenge and leave with a prize!
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
How did a collection of scattered colonies become a nation? Join one of the National Postal Museum's curators for a gallery tour exploring the communication networks that connected Americans during the colonial period and early republic. Learn about Benjamin Franklin's nearly forty-year postal career; how American revolutionaries challenged the royal postal system and established their own; and how merchants used transatlantic correspondence to participate in global commerce. Based on the new NPM book, Routes to a Nation, recently published by Smithsonian Books, this interactive tour highlights objects that reveal how mail shaped commerce, government, culture, and national identity. This 45-minute guided tour includes time for questions and discussion. Presenters: Lynn Heidelbaugh, Alison Bazylinski, Daniel Piazza (rotating).
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Stamp your calendar for Story Time! Join us every week for a fresh story, a stroll through the Museum, hands-on postal play, and more. Together, we’ll explore mail and all the ways it connects us to people, places, and big ideas. Stop by anytime—whether you stay for one activity or the whole session, this program will get everyone’s “stamp of approval”. Meet in the Museum Lobby. If there are services or accommodations that can improve your experience (e.g., ASL interpretation, etc.), please contact [email protected]; 1–2 week’s advance notice is recommended but not required.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
How did a collection of scattered colonies become a nation? Join one of the National Postal Museum's curators for a gallery tour exploring the communication networks that connected Americans during the colonial period and early republic. Learn about Benjamin Franklin's nearly forty-year postal career; how American revolutionaries challenged the royal postal system and established their own; and how merchants used transatlantic correspondence to participate in global commerce. Based on the new NPM book, Routes to a Nation, recently published by Smithsonian Books, this interactive tour highlights objects that reveal how mail shaped commerce, government, culture, and national identity. This 45-minute guided tour includes time for questions and discussion. Presenters: Lynn Heidelbaugh, Alison Bazylinski, Daniel Piazza (rotating).
Join educators from the National Postal Museum for live, interactive story time. Designed for children ages 4-7, but all are welcome! Mondays at 11:00 (ET) National Postal Museum educators will read stories aloud and lead related activities in a Zoom meeting for children and their caregivers. Explore a range of postal-related topics and more! Sessions will be interactive and last approximately 45-60 minutes. Caregivers are expected to be present with children for the duration of the program.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Virtual | Open to educators of all grade levels and subject areas Free event, registration required Join the National Postal Museum’s 2026 Guest Artist, Heather Moulder, for a virtual workshop designed for K–12 educators. Explore the intersection of stamps, art, and printmaking while learning about the history of printmaking, Heather Moulder's work, the process behind creating the USPS 2024 Bluegrass Forever stamp, and accessible printmaking techniques that can be adapted for any classroom. The session will conclude with a Q&A.
Join staff from the Smithsonian National Postal Museum and the Postal Museum in London for a discussion on 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff on Monday, October 19th at 7:00pm. If you have any accessibility requirements, please email [email protected] and we will do everything we can to meet your needs. A Zoom link will be emailed to participants prior to the program. Registration is required.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
On this extra special tour with the Postal Museum’s Director or Deputy Director, explore the wonders of our museum like never before! Meet at the Information Desk for an exclusive 45-minute tour.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45-minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Stamp your calendar for Story Time! Join us every week for a fresh story, a stroll through the Museum, hands-on postal play, and more. Together, we’ll explore mail and all the ways it connects us to people, places, and big ideas. Stop by anytime—whether you stay for one activity or the whole session, this program will get everyone’s “stamp of approval”. Meet in the Museum Lobby. If there are services or accommodations that can improve your experience (e.g., ASL interpretation, etc.), please contact [email protected]; 1–2 week’s advance notice is recommended but not required.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Could you be a postal clerk? In this activity, a volunteer challenges you to sort mail, deciding which letters will be delivered and which would be sent to the Dead Letter Office. Complete the challenge and leave with a prize!
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Stamp your calendar for Story Time! Join us every week for a fresh story, a stroll through the Museum, hands-on postal play, and more. Together, we’ll explore mail and all the ways it connects us to people, places, and big ideas. Stop by anytime—whether you stay for one activity or the whole session, this program will get everyone’s “stamp of approval”. Meet in the Museum Lobby. If there are services or accommodations that can improve your experience (e.g., ASL interpretation, etc.), please contact [email protected]; 1–2 week’s advance notice is recommended but not required.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Venue: Postal Museum Event Location: National Postal Museum Cost: Free ; no registration required. Categories: Celebrations,Kids & Families Related Events: Step into a world of spooky stamps, silly surprises, and creative Halloween fun! Families can explore hands‑on artmaking, join a museum‑wide costume parade, and discover seasonal stories and activities around every corner.... Costumes encouraged! *Costumes must keep faces visible and include no masks or face coverings and no fake weapons of any kind. Timed Activities: 12 pm and 2pm | Story Time with DC Public Library 1pm | Costume Parade throughout the Museum Activities Include: Jack‑o’-Lanterns in a Bag - Craft a glowing take home inspired by the holiday tradition. Spooky Silhouettes Printmaking - Create eerie silhouettes using simple printmaking techniques inspired by seasonal shapes. Stamp Photo Frame Family Portrait - Strike a pose at our festival photo op and snap this year’s costumes. Animal Hunt in the Forest - Search for hidden critters in our kid‑friendly forest installation. Partner Activities - Join the National Museum of African American History and Culture for hands‑on art and cultural storytelling. DC Public Library Book Bike - Explore free literacy materials or check out a book from this mobile library! ASL interpretation will be provided during Story Time sessions. For questions or to request additional accommodations, please contact us at [email protected]. Accessibility: ASL-interpreted program
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45-minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Join educators from the National Postal Museum for live, interactive story time. Designed for children ages 4-7, but all are welcome! Mondays at 11:00 (ET) National Postal Museum educators will read stories aloud and lead related activities in a Zoom meeting for children and their caregivers. Explore a range of postal-related topics and more! Sessions will be interactive and last approximately 45-60 minutes. Caregivers are expected to be present with children for the duration of the program.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45-minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Stamp your calendar for Story Time! Join us every week for a fresh story, a stroll through the Museum, hands-on postal play, and more. Together, we’ll explore mail and all the ways it connects us to people, places, and big ideas. Stop by anytime—whether you stay for one activity or the whole session, this program will get everyone’s “stamp of approval”. Meet in the Museum Lobby. If there are services or accommodations that can improve your experience (e.g., ASL interpretation, etc.), please contact [email protected]; 1–2 week’s advance notice is recommended but not required.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Could you be a postal clerk? In this activity, a volunteer challenges you to sort mail, deciding which letters will be delivered and which would be sent to the Dead Letter Office. Complete the challenge and leave with a prize!
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
How did a collection of scattered colonies become a nation? Join one of the National Postal Museum's curators for a gallery tour exploring the communication networks that connected Americans during the colonial period and early republic. Learn about Benjamin Franklin's nearly forty-year postal career; how American revolutionaries challenged the royal postal system and established their own; and how merchants used transatlantic correspondence to participate in global commerce. Based on the new NPM book, Routes to a Nation, recently published by Smithsonian Books, this interactive tour highlights objects that reveal how mail shaped commerce, government, culture, and national identity. This 45-minute guided tour includes time for questions and discussion.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Stamp your calendar for Story Time! Join us every week for a fresh story, a stroll through the Museum, hands-on postal play, and more. Together, we’ll explore mail and all the ways it connects us to people, places, and big ideas. Stop by anytime—whether you stay for one activity or the whole session, this program will get everyone’s “stamp of approval”. Meet in the Museum Lobby. If there are services or accommodations that can improve your experience (e.g., ASL interpretation, etc.), please contact [email protected]; 1–2 week’s advance notice is recommended but not required.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45-minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
How did a collection of scattered colonies become a nation? Join one of the National Postal Museum's curators for a gallery tour exploring the communication networks that connected Americans during the colonial period and early republic. Learn about Benjamin Franklin's nearly forty-year postal career; how American revolutionaries challenged the royal postal system and established their own; and how merchants used transatlantic correspondence to participate in global commerce. Based on the new NPM book, Routes to a Nation, recently published by Smithsonian Books, this interactive tour highlights objects that reveal how mail shaped commerce, government, culture, and national identity. This 45-minute guided tour includes time for questions and discussion. Presenters: Lynn Heidelbaugh, Alison Bazylinski, Daniel Piazza (rotating).
Join educators from the National Postal Museum for live, interactive story time. Designed for children ages 4-7, but all are welcome! Mondays at 11:00 (ET) National Postal Museum educators will read stories aloud and lead related activities in a Zoom meeting for children and their caregivers. Explore a range of postal-related topics and more! Sessions will be interactive and last approximately 45-60 minutes. Caregivers are expected to be present with children for the duration of the program.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
On this extra special tour with the Postal Museum’s Director or Deputy Director, explore the wonders of our museum like never before! Meet at the Information Desk for an exclusive 45-minute tour.
Since the early decades of photography, practitioners have relied on a growing international postal system to send photographs, materials, and information about technological developments to recipients near and far. The official announcement of the invention of photography in 1839 occurred just six years before the landmark Postal Act of 1845, in which the United States Congress reduced postage rates to allow the mail to be, for the first time, an affordable form of communication for most Americans. Central to the history of photography though rarely discussed within it, the mail facilitated the production of photographs and proved a key agent in the evolution of the photograph from a singular and costly object to a reproducible and disseminable image. Natalie Pellolio is a Visiting Professor in the History of Art and Visual Culture department at California College of the Arts. She received her B.A. in Art History at Reed College in 2009 and her Ph.D. in Art & Art History at Stanford University in 2018. She has held positions at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Portland Art Museum, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and the California Historical Society. She is currently completing a book manuscript about the intertwined histories of photography and the postal service and the impact of the mail on American photographic aesthetics.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45-minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Stamp your calendar for Story Time! Join us every week for a fresh story, a stroll through the Museum, hands-on postal play, and more. Together, we’ll explore mail and all the ways it connects us to people, places, and big ideas. Stop by anytime—whether you stay for one activity or the whole session, this program will get everyone’s “stamp of approval”. Meet in the Museum Lobby. If there are services or accommodations that can improve your experience (e.g., ASL interpretation, etc.), please contact [email protected]; 1–2 week’s advance notice is recommended but not required.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Could you be a postal clerk? In this activity, a volunteer challenges you to sort mail, deciding which letters will be delivered and which would be sent to the Dead Letter Office. Complete the challenge and leave with a prize!
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Stamp your calendar for Story Time! Join us every week for a fresh story, a stroll through the Museum, hands-on postal play, and more. Together, we’ll explore mail and all the ways it connects us to people, places, and big ideas. Stop by anytime—whether you stay for one activity or the whole session, this program will get everyone’s “stamp of approval”. Meet in the Museum Lobby. If there are services or accommodations that can improve your experience (e.g., ASL interpretation, etc.), please contact [email protected]; 1–2 week’s advance notice is recommended but not required.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45-minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Join educators from the National Postal Museum for live, interactive story time. Designed for children ages 4-7, but all are welcome! Mondays at 11:00 (ET) National Postal Museum educators will read stories aloud and lead related activities in a Zoom meeting for children and their caregivers. Explore a range of postal-related topics and more! Sessions will be interactive and last approximately 45-60 minutes. Caregivers are expected to be present with children for the duration of the program.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45-minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
What can we learn about America – its cultures, history, landscapes, treasures – from its postage stamps? What are the challenges and joys specific to designing postal materials? Join us in person or online as we discuss these questions, the stamps celebrating the country’s 250th anniversary, and more with USPS Art Directors Antonio Alcalá, Greg Breeding, and Ethel Kessler.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Stamp your calendar for Story Time! Join us every week for a fresh story, a stroll through the Museum, hands-on postal play, and more. Together, we’ll explore mail and all the ways it connects us to people, places, and big ideas. Stop by anytime—whether you stay for one activity or the whole session, this program will get everyone’s “stamp of approval”. Meet in the Museum Lobby. If there are services or accommodations that can improve your experience (e.g., ASL interpretation, etc.), please contact [email protected]; 1–2 week’s advance notice is recommended but not required.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Look for our friendly volunteer at the Information Desk for a 45 minute tour of the highlights of the museum.
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
Could you be a postal clerk? In this activity, a volunteer challenges you to sort mail, deciding which letters will be delivered and which would be sent to the Dead Letter Office. Complete the challenge and leave with a prize!
Postal Museum · Postal Museum
How did a collection of scattered colonies become a nation? Join one of the National Postal Museum's curators for a gallery tour exploring the communication networks that connected Americans during the colonial period and early republic. Learn about Benjamin Franklin's nearly forty-year postal career; how American revolutionaries challenged the royal postal system and established their own; and how merchants used transatlantic correspondence to participate in global commerce. Based on the new NPM book, Routes to a Nation, recently published by Smithsonian Books, this interactive tour highlights objects that reveal how mail shaped commerce, government, culture, and national identity. This 45-minute guided tour includes time for questions and discussion.