Celebrate the Airmail Centennial 1918-2018
Delivering America: Airmail to Email at the College Park Aviation Campus
Take off with us in 2018! On August 12, 1918, the United States Post Office Department launched its Airmail Service at College Park Airport, the world’s oldest continuously operating airport. They utilized their own pilots and aircraft. The Field of Firsts Foundation (FOFF) in collaboration with the College Park Aviation Museum and College Park Airport, also known as the College Park Aviation Campus, are implementing a 16-24 month celebration of the Airmail Centennial. In addition to a new semi-permanent exhibit, the museum and airport are planning a reenactment of the first flight, new programs, special events, fly-ins, and new educational programming. Join us in celebrating this pivotal event and the innovations that generated dramatic changes in our everyday lives.
Airmail Centennial Activites
Images courtesy of Michael G. Stewart
Kick-Off Weekend - Friday, August 10 through Sunday, August 12, 2018 includes:
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Exhibit Preview Gala Reception: Friday Evening, August 10, 2018,
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Outdoor display of historic aircraft, flown in just for the weekend,
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Special Exhibit Opening and complimentary admission for all visitors; new hands on activities,
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Fly-In and Pancake Breakfast.
​Flight reenactment on the 100th Anniversary - Sunday, August 12, 2018
New Exhibit: Delivering America: Airmail to Email - Opens Saturday August 11, 2018
“Plane Dougie” Campaign - Launched August 12, 2017
Special events and historic aircraft display - College Park Day Fall 2018; Fly & Drive Spring – 2019
New Exhibit
Delivering America: Airmail to Email
Images courtesy of Michael G. Stewart
The museum’s new exhibit, Delivering America: Airmail to Email, gives the public a chance to discover how airmail impacted:
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Communication, exploring the evolution of how fast news travels as well as mail and packages;
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Travel and the birth of America’s commercial airlines;
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America’s sense of national identity, community as a result of mail connecting the country;
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Innovation and what the future might hold.
Delivering America will become part of the College P ark Aviation Museum's permanent exhibitions and represents the first phase in rejuvenating exhibits to enhance the opportunity for engagement with tourists from across the globe as well as local communities and school children.
Additional Centennial programming is being developed, including:
- Aviation Career Day (offered more than once),
- Airmail “Race”,
- Postage stamp unveiling,
- Commemorative envelopes and postmarks,
- Postmark design contest,
- Joint programming with Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum,
- Guest speakers,
- Stamp collector show,
- Collaboration with American Philatelic Society,
and more!
Images courtesy of Michael G. Stewart