INDIANAPOLIS, IN — Fort Wayne Postmaster Kathryn Harris and friends of Smith Field DBA the National Airmail Museum will come together on Monday, November 5 to recognize the importance of airmail in the development of the infrastructure United States, and to dedicate the two recently issued Forever Airmail Stamps. 

The stamp event will take place in the historic Hanger at Smith Field from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. The Airmail Stamps dedication follows the bipartisan bill introduced recently by Indiana’s senators to designate a section of Smith Field as the National Airmail Museum. A similar bill was introduced in the House in February.

This year, the U.S. Postal Service issued two United States Air Mail Forever stamps — Blue to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the beginning of airmail service, and Red to mark the 100th anniversary of the Post Office Department’s taking charge of the nation’s airmail service and making it part of the fabric of the American economy.

Joining the Fort Wayne Postmaster will be Morton Marcus, Professor Emeritus, IU Business School, Tom Kelley, Kelley Auto Group and Eric Olsen, Channel 21.

Fort Wayne has a strong association with airmail and the pilots who carried the mail.

Smith Field was named after Art Smith, who had a crucial role in the development of airmail, and who died tragically in 1926 when he crashed on an airmail flight from Chicago to Cleveland.
Fort Wayne’s first municipal airport was named after another famous local pilot, Paul Baer, who also died flying airmail. It became Smith Field when, in 1941, the U.S. government chose to build a military base on the south side of the city and named that Baer Field, now Fort Wayne International Airport.

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