Staff report

SALISBURY — After a Feb. 21 Salisbury Post story about her stamp collection connected to African-American history, Mary A. Love received an invitation from the U.S. Postal Service to speak to employees in the Washington area.

Love, an adjunct professor at Hood Theological Seminary in Salisbury, recently made a presentation to about 125 postal workers at a joint Capital District and Capital Metro Area African-American History Month celebration.

Love’s appearance was written up in a recent “Capital Metro Leader” report to employees.

“Presenting her sizable collection to an audience of district and area leadership and employees,” the e-newsletter said, “Love expressed her appreciation for stamps. ‘I know you work with stamps all the time,’ said Love. ‘But to me, they are works of art, and they help us preserve our history.'”

The report continued that Love took questions from the audience about African-Americans featured on postage stamps and the accomplishments for which they were honored. She also pointed out the images of anonymous black postal employees featured on a 1973 Postal Service Employees stamps series.

“When asked what started her passion for stamps,” the employee correspondence added, “Love referred back to her youth. ‘I tried to collect stamps from letters as a child,’ said Love. ‘But it really started later in life when a friend took me to the National Postal Museum and a stamp show.'”

Love’s stamp collection was on display at Hood Theological Seminary for a couple of weeks during Black History Month.