Smithsonian National Postal Museum Features Maryknoll

The Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers and the Maryknoll Sisters are prominently featured in a new virtual exhibit – “America’s Mailing Industry” – that has been unveiled by The Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum. The exhibit shares the history and the interesting stories about the many partnerships that the U.S. Postal Service has championed with private industry and nonprofit organizations for more than 200 years.

Maryknoll’s contribution, created by Maryknoll Mission Archives, highlights a partnership of more than a century with U.S. Postal Service that has allowed Maryknoll to maintain relationships with missioners overseas and supporters at home. Central to this partnership has been the U.S. Post Office located at Maryknoll on Ryder Road in Ossining, New York. From this location, the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers has mailed its flagship publication, Maryknoll magazine (formerly known as The Field Afar) and its Spanish-language counterpart, Revista Maryknoll (recently renamed Misoneros), to hundreds of thousands of supporters.

Both Catholic religious organizations continue to mail fund-raising literature through this postal location while also sending and receiving letters and other correspondence to and from missioners in far-away lands. Letters of good-will, along with support from donors and benefactors, also pass through this post office.

The Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, founded 1911, and the Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic, founded 1912, are the first Catholic U.S. Society and Congregation of religious dedicated to international mission. Maryknoll promotes healthcare, provides education opportunities, addresses poverty, builds communities and embraces justice and peace. The Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, located at 55 Ryder Road, currently serve in mission in 22 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and also in the U.S. The Maryknoll Sisters, located across the street at 10 Pinesbridge Road, serve in mission in 24 countries worldwide.

Partnerships with the U.S. Postal Service have helped U.S. citizens, businesses and nonprofits communicate and conduct business for more than two centuries. The story of partnership, according to the exhibit, helps people shop, ship, deliver, communicate and conduct transactions, gain information, seek entertainment, build relationships, enhance communities and foster citizenship.

Exhibit Embraces Maryknoll

Maryknoll learned about the exhibit project during August 2015. Direct Marketing Manager Diane Bernardini of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers was informed about the project through her association with the National Catholic Development Conference, the largest membership association of charitable religious fundraisers in the U.S. Following initial contact with the USPS/Mailing Industry program project manager, these two Maryknoll expressions immediately agreed to be among the first organizations to participate in the exhibit.

By the end of September 2015, the Maryknoll Mission Archives staff--Director Ellen Pierce, Archivist Stephanie Conning, Archivist Jessica Di Silvestro and Photo Archivist Jennifer Halloran--had researched and prepared all editorial content and imagery for the Maryknoll component of the exhibit.

The program project manager quickly realized that the Maryknoll collaboration with the U.S. Postal Service has been a unique partnership. She used this specific story to generate interest among other nonprofits and corporations during the development of the project. The Maryknoll submission was officially approved by the Postal Museum during February 2016.

“America’s Mailing Industry” will be featured on the Postal Museum website for the foreseeable future. The virtual exhibit will receive periodic updates. To see the entire online exhibit, click here. To see the Maryknoll story in the exhibit, click here.

A local exhibit at the Maryknoll Society Center (55 Ryder Road in Ossining) complements this virtual exhibit. The local exhibit includes images of Maryknoll postcards through the years and explains the March 1964 failed robbery attempt at the Maryknoll post office. The display can be seen in the Maryknoll Museum of Living Mission, Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. Admission is free and this exhibit will remain in the Maryknoll museum until the end of May.