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Nancy Pope

Nancy Pope

Nancy Pope, chief curator of the National Postal Museum’s history department, has worked with the items in this collection since joining the Smithsonian Institution in 1984. In 1993 she curated the opening exhibitions for the National Postal Museum. Her work focuses on the many aspects of postal history, especially transportation and postal workers.

A brittle letter addressed to Orrin W. Shephard of Croton, Newagyo Co., Michigan from his son Nelson.

Mystery Solved: A Michigan Woman Says She Mailed Civil War Letters to the Post Office

Smithsonian curator Nancy Pope learns how and why these letters showed up in the mail 153 years later