Philip H. Ward, Jr. Memorial Award
For Excellence in First Day Cover Literature
Sponsored by the AFDCS, the Philip H. Ward competition is open to all authors of FDC articles which have appeared in a recognized philatelic publication during a calendar year, or books published during that year. Articles published in First Days are automatically considered. Others may be submitted to the Ward Award Committee chair, Mark Goodson, 315 E. Dewey Dr., Ellettsville, IN 47429, bgdsn@comcast.net.
Philip H. Ward, Jr. of Philadelphia (1886-1963), for whom the memorial award is named, was a prominent, world-famous philatelist. It was due to his pioneering and imaginative spirit that the field of First Day Covers received its initial impetus during the early part of the 20th century. His contributions are unparalleled in the history of the hobby.
| YEAR |
AUTHOR(S) |
CITED WORK |
| 1964 |
Stan Hamilton |
"Canal Zone First
Day Covers" |
| 1965 |
Curtis B.
Patterson and Marge Finger |
"Official Cachets
on U. S. First Day Covers” series of articles |
| 1966 |
David J. Simmons |
“Israel First Day
Covers” |
| 1967 |
Richard H. Thompson |
"Six Cent
Airmail (C19) First Day" |
| 1968 |
Herbert S. Halm |
"First Day Covers
of Uruguay" |
| 1969 |
Adam K. Bert |
“Counterfeit First
Day Covers” series of articles |
| 1970 |
Jack V. Harvey |
"Earliest Known
Date of '22 Two-Cent Use” |
| 1971 |
Jack V. Harvey |
"Four New First
Day Cities for the 15c Rotary Special Delivery" as well as his
continuing series on FDCs of the Kansas-Nebraska issues |
| 1972 |
Felix D.
Bertalanffy |
"The Special
Cancellations and First Day Covers of Japan” |
| 1973 |
Curtis B. Patterson |
Series of articles
on early cachet makers and servicers |
| 1974 |
David R. Whitesell |
"Yorktown: Anatomy
of a First Day" |
| 1975 |
Barry Newton |
For numerous
features on both classic and contemporary material which appeared in First Days
during 1975 |
| 1976 |
Pat and Ed Siskin |
Five-part series
on the Valley Forge commemorative of 1928 |
| 1977 |
Henry B. Scheuer |
Multi-part series
on the Jamestown Commemorative Issue of 1907 |
| 1978 |
Edward Siskin and
Henry B. Scheuer |
“Designated First
Day Dates,” multi-part series on pre-1922 FDCs |
| 1979 |
Dr. Melvin L. Baron |
Multi-part series
on the FDCs of the Canadian postal issues of 1930-40 |
| 1980 |
Jack A. Harlan |
"Hobart Schacht's
Cachets" |
| 1981 |
Dr. Leon Cheris |
Continuing series,
"Postal History: Experimental Tagged First Day Covers 1963-1973” |
| 1982 |
Dr. Leon Cheris |
Continuing series,
"Postal History: Experimental Tagged First Day Covers 1963-1973” |
| 1983 |
Marshall Ackerman |
Feature column,
"The Simple Pleasures of First Day Cover Collecting" |
| 1984 |
Richard A. Monty |
"Prof. Earl G.
Planty: The Dean of First Day Cover Collecting" |
| 1985 |
Donald E. Sabo |
"An Illustrated
Catalog of the William G. Windhurst Sc. 610 FDCs: With a Critique on
his September 1, 1923, Marion Statistics Report" |
| 1986 |
Douglas H. Henkle |
"U.S. Virgin
Islands: Part 2 Sc. 799-802 Laird Cachet Varieties" |
| 1987 |
Larry S. Weiss |
"First Day Covers
of Sc. 331a and 332a” |
| 1988 |
Joe D. Hough |
Continuing series
of articles on First Day Covers of the Virginia Dare commemorative
stamp of 1937 |
| 1989 |
Five authors
contributing to a FDC symposium in The
United States Specialist |
"Evolving First
Day Fashions" by Ken Lawrence; "What is a First Day Cover?" by George
W. Brett; "A PNC Dealer's View" by Ed Denson; "Thoughts on the
Legitimacy of Contemporary First Day Covers" by Allison W. Cusick; and
“PNC First Day Covers Still Can Be Faked" by Dr. Robert Rabinowitz |
| 1990 |
Melvin L. Baron
and Stan Lum |
A series of
articles on classic First Day Covers of Canada |
| 1991 |
Monte Eiserman |
"Conversations
with Ludwig W. Staehle” series of articles |
| 1992 |
G. R. "Dick"
Danielson |
Two-part article
"Vincennes and George Rogers Clark 1779-1929" |
| 1993 |
Robert Colby |
"A Study of Sc.
C19, 6¢ Airmail June 30, 1934 FDCs" |
| 1994 |
Tom O'Hagan |
"Bill Olvey and
K.M.C. Venture Cachets" |
| 1995 |
Dr. Michael
Rosenthal and Dr. Marvin Speer |
Ken Boll Cachet Catalogue |
| 1996 |
Ken Lawrence |
Three-part series
"First Day Covers in Earliest Usages" |
| 1997 |
Herb Trenchard |
Series of articles
on first day ceremonies of the 1940 Famous American stamps |
| 1998 |
Lloyd de Vries |
"How to Service
Quantities of First Day Covers" |
| 1999 |
Tris Fall |
Series of articles
"On the Trail of That Elusive Cachet" |
| 2000 |
Alan Berkun and
Wilson Hulme |
“Aristocrats of US
FDCs - July 1, 1851 3¢ George Washington" |
| 2001 |
Bruce Perkins |
"The International
Demise of Private Cachetmaking Part II, Canada Post Office Cachets" |
| 2002 |
Jerry A. Katz |
“FDCs of the
Special Delivery Issue of 1922" |
| 2003 |
Barry N. Kaplan
and Michael R. Rosenthal |
"The House of
Farnam Story" |
| 2004 |
Alan Berkun |
"The 1868 Regular
Production D, E, and F Grill EDUs" |
| 2005 |
Eliot A. Landau |
"The 1866 15-cent
Black Lincoln" |
| 2006 |
Ralph H. Nafziger |
"Fakes and
Forgeries on FDCs and Earliest Documented Usages” |
| 2007 |
Robert Lewin |
"The Magnificent
Covers of Ejgil J.S. Halvorsen" |
| 2008 |
Charles Deaton |
"The Philatelic
Legacy of the Artistic Edmiston Family: The Story of Gladys Adler &
Florence Edmiston" |
| 2009 |
E. Lee Howard |
"Jesse Graham
Holland, Pioneer Cachetmaker" |
| 2010 |
Mark Lerner |
“Charles R.
Chickering Cachetmaker” |
| 2011 |
David Zubatsky |
“Norbert C.
Waldau: A Biography and Catalog of his Handpainted First Day Covers” |
| 2012 |
Jerry A. Katz |
“Henry Hammelman:
Pioneer Servicer, Dealer, and Exhibitor” |
| 2013 |
David Zubatsky |
“Walter M.
Stawuszewski: Philatelic Artist and Collector”; “Dorothea ‘Dottie’
Bundy and Her Handpainted Cachets”; and “Frank J. Ulrich: Designer of
Handdrawn Watercolor Cachets” |
| 2014 |
Harry F. Themal |
“Jackie Kennedy’s
ArtCraft Cachet” |
| 2015 |
Douglas S. Weisz |
Dorothy Knapp: Philately and Family |
| 2016 |
Henry B. Scheuer |
“Kansas-Nebraska
Overprint Stamps: Why, When and Where They Were Initially Sold” |
| 2017 |
no award |
|
| 2018 |
David Zubatsky |
For his ongoing bibliographic
series in First Days |
| 2019 |
Ken Lawrence |
"Which Items Franked with 1913
Parcel Post Stamps Are Authentic U.S. First Day Covers?” |
| 2020 |
Kris McIntosh |
"The Fight for the Women’s Right
To Vote" |
| 2021 |
Susan Bahnick Jones |
Carol
Gordon: Unconventional Cachetmaker |
| 2022 (tie) |
Henry B. Scheuer |
"How the Earliest Collectors
Sought Out First Days" |
| 2022 (tie) |
Peter J. LaPlaca and Anthony F.
Dewey |
The
Connecticut Tercentennary Issue of 1935 |
| 2023 |
Ken Lawrence |
"The Greatest American First Day
Cover" |
