Douglass Houghton Postmark Cancellation Collection

Collection — sc_box: MS 5, Folder: 31

Identifier: MS-904

Staff Only

Collection Scope and Content Summary

Postmark cancellations, November 7, 2009, celebrating the bicentennial of Douglass Houghton's birth. The United States Postal Service held a special ceremony at the Douglass Houghton Hall Station at Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan, stamping cancellations for local dignitaries, speakers, guests, and many descendants of Douglass Houghton.

Dates

2009

Language of Material

English

Conditions Governing Access

Available for use in the Michigan Technological University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections.

Conditions Governing Use

Various copying restrictions apply. Guidelines are available from Michigan Technological University Archives & Copper Country Historical Collections.

Historical note

As Michigan's first state geologist, Houghton conducted a survey of Lake Superior in 1840; his findings, published in 1841, spurred a boom in population and commercial copper mining. To honor the 200th anniversary of his birth, a pictorial postmark cancellation depicting a sketch of Houghton was unveiled on 7 November 2009 in Douglass Houghton Hall at Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan. U.S. Postal Service employees were kept busy at the event stamping cancellations for the crowd, which included local dignitaries, speakers, guests, and many descendants of Douglass Houghton. The Houghton Post Office continued to provide the cancellation stamp for the following thirty days (http://www.rocksandminerals.org/Back%20Issues/2010/March-April%202010/chips-full.html, accessed 4/9/2013).

Extent

0.01 Cubic Feet (1 folder)

Additional Description

Abstract

3 envelopes and 4 postcards with postal cancellations celebrating the bicentennial of Douglass Houghton's birth. Special ceremony was held in Douglass Houghton Hall at Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan, November 7, 2009.

Acquisition

The cancelled postcards and envelopes were donated to the Michigan Technological University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections by Allan Johnson on January 31, 2013.