2022 Hall of Fame Inductees

Marjory Sente

Marjory Sente has been writing for philatelic publications since 1975, when she first researched and wrote about American female philatelic writers for the 1975 CHICAGOPEX show program (since reprinted). Two years later, her article about Amelia Earhart appeared in Scott’s Monthly Journal. She has written more than 800 articles that have been published in the philatelic press, including in Scott’s Stamp Monthly, Linn’s Stamp News, Stamp Collector, First Days, The Roadrunner, WE Expressions, and The American Philatelist; in national publications, including Country Living, The Penn Stater, and DAR Magazine. Her most recent works blend postal and social history into engaging narratives with broad appeal. She has used new resources available through the internet to tell lost postal stories about the Grand Canyon, Arizona Territory’s first postmistress, first day covers, and even geegaws.

Sente is an award-winning exhibitor. Her exhibits include “Grand Canyon, Arizona Territory Post Office 1902—1912,” “The 1932 Washington Bicentennial Commemorative Stamps,” and “World War II Era Censored First Day Covers.” In addition, she has given talks and seminars and taught philatelic courses. Her awards and honors include election to the First Day Cover Hall of Fame and exhibiting in the Court of Honor at World Columbian Stamp Expo in 1992.

Kevin Lowther

Kevin Lowther writes on a wide range of philatelic subjects with exemplary research that places his stories in historical context. He began collecting stamps in the late 1940s, and has specialized in the Washington-Franklins over the past sixty years. In 2010, he began focusing on postal history and has since published more than 170 articles in several philatelic magazines, including The United States Specialist, The American Stamp Dealer & Collector and Kelleher’s Stamp Collector’s Quarterly. Nearly sixty of his articles explored the postal history of United States’ involvement in WWI. His articles on the Washington-Franklins have led to several new listings in the Scott catalog.

Lowther is a life member of the American Philatelic Society, the United States Stamp Society, the Military Postal History Society, the Civil War Philatelic Society, and the West Africa Study Circle. He has published two non-fiction books, Keeping Kennedy’s Promise, the Peace Corps—Unmet Promise of the New Frontier (Westview Press, 1978); and The African American Odyssey of John Kizell (University of South Carolina Press, 2011), the life of a former slave who returned to his homeland in West Africa and fought against the slave trade.

Douglas A. Kelsey (1949-2020)

Doug Kelsey wrote several hundred articles, columns, catalogs, and monographs. His publications showcase his diverse research and collecting interests, including Mailed via “Mailomat,” Mexico Postage Meter Stamp Catalog, Ohio Metered Mail Postal History, The Definitive Issues of Egypt, The Gutter Pair Price Guide, and United States Meter Stamps. For fourteen years he wrote a column for Linn’s Stamp News and served as an editor of the Postal History Foundation’s Heliograph.

Kelsey served as executive director and later executive secretary of the American First Day Cover Society (AFDCS). He received the AFDCS’s Glenn C. Michel Special Recognition Award, Distinguished Service Award, and Honorary Life Membership. The American Philatelic Society honored his national promotion and service with its Nicholas Carter Volunteer Award. Kelsey was an accredited APS judge. He held offices in several other organizations, including executive director of the American Topical Association, vice president and director of the United States Philatelic Classics Society, treasurer of the St. Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Philatelic Society, president of the Machine Cancel Society, executive director of the Postal History Foundation, and secretary-treasurer of the Meter Stamp Society. His collecting interests ranged from first day covers, meter stamps, airmails, postal stationery, revenues, Brazil, Australia, to Project Mercury.