UPS Grants First Scholarship Awards on Postal History

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A university professor and a college student will receive two prizes acknowledging excellence for those who publish works that highlight United States postal history. Professor David M. Henkin, Department of History at the University of California-Berkeley and Jesse Vogler, College of Architecture, Texas Tech University in Lubbock will receive the first Rita Lloyd Moroney Awards from U.S. Postal Service representatives in recognition of their important undertakings.

The Rita Lloyd Moroney Awards are designed to encourage scholarship on the history of the United States postal system and to raise awareness about the significance of the postal system in American life. They include the Senior Prize ($2,000) for work published by faculty members, independent scholars, public historians, and other non-degree candidates and the Junior Prize ($1,000) for work written or published by undergraduates or graduate students.

Professor Henkin’s book, “The Postal Age: The Emergence of Modern Communications in Nineteenth-Century America” merited the Senior Prize, while Vogler’s paper, “’Correct and Perfect’: Post Office Design Guidelines and the Standardization of the National Postal Landscape,” secured the Junior Prize for its author.

The awards are intended for scholarship on any topic on the history of the United States postal system from the colonial era to the present — including the history of the colonial postal system that preceded the establishment of the United States postal system in 1775. Though submissions must be historical in character, they can draw on the methods of disciplines other than history, for example, geography, cultural studies, literature, communications or economics. Comparative or international historical studies are eligible if the United States postal system is central to the discussion.

U.S. Postal Service officials will present the awards later at ceremonies in Berkeley and Lubbock. Rita Lloyd Moroney, the awards’ namesake, began conducting historical research for the postmaster general in 1962 and later served as the U.S. Postal Service historian from 1973 to 1991. Additional information on these awards and application instructions are at usps.com/postalhistory/moroney.htm.