Smithsonian National Postal Museum

08/26/2023

in 1920, the became law. This 2020 centennial stamp depicts suffragists marching together. Their attire and banners represent the official colors of the National Woman’s Party — purple, white and gold.

The fight for women's suffrage did not end in 1920 with the 19th Amendment. Many women—including African American women, Native American women, and Asian American women—were still denied access to the ballot.

©USPS; all rights reserved.

08/25/2023

By the mid-1800s adhesive postage stamps were widely used in the U.S. following their introduction in 1847, and the Post Office Department recognized that people no longer needed to go to the post office to deposit their letters. Instead, they could keep stamps at home and mail letters at their leisure.

Credit for patenting the first letter box officially sanctioned by the Post Office Department goes to a Philadelphia iron products manufacturer named Albert Potts (patent #19,578) in March 1858. His box was designed to be mounted to a lamppost; Potts called his invention a “new and Improved combination of Letter-Box and Lamp-Post for Municipalities.” The bulk of Potts’ brief patent description (pictured, along with an 1858 advertisement for the letter box) details how the mailbox should be attached to the lamppost. His hope was not only that the US Post Office Department use these new collection boxes (which they did), but that cities would purchase his company’s lampposts to match (that part of his plan was less successful).

The Potts mailbox was the first of the postal system’s street collection mailboxes, but was, even in 1858, too small for the job. In 1860, a contract was awarded to John Murray for the production of 1,600 larger lamppost letter boxes. Over the next few decades, inventors and designers patented a variety of collection mailboxes. Although few designs made postal officials’ final cut, the letter box was here to stay. 1891, the U.S. Post Office Department had over 48,400 letter boxes of various types in use around the country.

It's important to note that the penny post system of letter delivery in cities led to the use of boxes for the deposit of outgoing U.S. mail began as early as 1833. Some of these boxes were placed on city streets; others were located within shops, hotels, or other businesses. Some boxes entailed a 2-cent collection fee, while others were established with specific contractors, but none were particularly lasting, nor officially sanctioned, or even regulated in most cases.

08/20/2023

The Smithsonian's Office of Exhibits created this model of the Buckeye State packet boat for the Postal Museum's inaugural exhibits in 1993. Built in 1850, the Buckeye State traveled between Cincinnati, Ohio, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was a wooden hull side-wheel packet boat, 260 feet long, owned by the Pittsburgh and Cincinnati Packet Line.

During the first half of the nineteenth century, steamboats such as the Buckeye State helped move the mail to areas not serviced by stagecoach lines or railway routes. In 1823 Congress declared all steamboat routes to be post roads and, therefore, subject to federal regulation and contracting.

Steamboats that traveled along the Ohio River were subject to unpredictable weather, run aground during spring floods, or trapped by winter ice. Also known as 'packet boats', 'side-wheel packets', or simply 'packets' for short, these crafts were celebrated for their speed and ability to carry a large amount of cargo.

Speed was important for all aspects of transportation, including mail. Steamboat captains often vied for record speeds, the winner gaining fame as the best on his route. The Buckeye State set a record out of Cincinnati on its maiden voyage (May 1, 1850). It reached Pittsburgh in forty-three hours, beating the record of Telegraph No. 2, which had made the same trip in forty-four hours, forty-seven minutes three years earlier. Fortunately, the Buckeye State survived the race. Sometimes captains pushed their boats too hard, stoking boilers past their capacities, resulting in steam engine explosions that engulfed the boats in fire, destroying mail, cargo, and killing passengers and crew.

08/16/2023

Helping carriers bring mail to our residences and businesses has seen postal officials experimenting with a variety of vehicles. There have been four-wheeled vans, trucks and the boxy Long Life Vehicles; three-wheeled Mailsters; and two-wheeled motorcycles and bicycles. Carriers have used bikes to help carry the mail since the 1880s. Many bikes had baskets to carry the mail, and when they did not, carriers pedaled along with leather mailbags strapped over their bodies.

While some rural carriers used bicycles, they were far more common in cities where letter carriers and special delivery messengers used bikes to help deliver the mail. Bicycles were especially popular in areas where the roads were good and carriers were allowed to ride their bikes on the sidewalks, which helped them more easily and quickly access households and their mailboxes. This city carrier’s bicycle in our collection is from the late 1950s. It has a wire basket for the carrier’s bag and is brightly painted the red, white, and blue color scheme that was instituted around this time for Post Office Department vehicles and mailboxes.

There are carriers still using bicycles in a few spots around the United States. St. Petersburg and Miami Beach, FL and Sun City, AZ are among those where folks can still find a bike-riding carrier bringing them the day’s mail. While gas vehicles replaced bicycles for decades, there was a short comeback of the two wheeled transports during the 1970s gasoline shortages. But as the volume of letters and similar light mail declines while package volume continues to grow rapidly, bicycles just don’t have the carrying capacity that most city carriers need today.

08/10/2023

Happy 177th birthday, Smithsonian! 🎉

USPS commemorated the 150th anniversary of the Smithsonian Institution in 1996 with the issuance of this stamp. Designed by Tom Engeman of Carbondale, Colorado, it features the Smithsonian Institution Building, more commonly known as the Castle. The Castle, the first Smithsonian building built, was designed by architect James Renwick and constructed between 1847 and 1855.

The Smithsonian Institution, which is composed of an education and research complex of 19 museums, 9 research centers, and the National Zoo, was established in its present form on August 10, 1846, by an Act of Congress signed by President James K. Polk.

© United States Postal Service. All rights reserved.

08/07/2023

Actress, comedian, model, and producer Lucille Ball was born on this day in 1911. She is perhaps best known as her hyperbolic sitcom personality of the same name - an alter-ego of sorts. Whether she was stomping around in a pit of grapes, frantically stuffing her face with chocolates, or slurring her way through a Vitameatavegamin commercial, she was never at a loss for ways to keep her audience laughing. “Luuuucy!” her husband Ricky Ricardo would half-groan/half-yell when yet another harebrained scheme ended in hilarious hysteria.

But off screen, Lucy was far from a blundering housewife. She and husband Desi Arnaz (her real-life and TV partner) were a powerful force; she as a female comedian and he as a Cuban bandleader who had fled political turmoil in his home country to make it big in the U.S. with his musical talent. Not only did this wacky fictional couple dominate primetime, the real Lucy and Desi became TV business moguls with their production company Desilu.

Lucy and Desi were an unusual couple by 1950s standards, and CBS was unsure how the American audience would react. But it turned out that this cultural dynamic actually brought another level of comedy to the show, as Arnaz played up his Latino heritage and made misunderstandings even more confusing with a language barrier thrown into the mix. Set off by Lucy’s antics, Ricky would launch into a tirade of rapid Spanish, giving Lucy material for an imitation of her husband’s outburst in true Marx Brothers fashion.

The United States Postal Service issued a 34-cent Lucille Ball Legends of Hollywood commemorative stamp in Los Angeles, California, on August 6, 2001.
© United States Postal Service. All rights reserved..

07/31/2023

The National Postal Museum opened on July 30, 1993, making today the museum’s 30th anniversary! The museum came into existence on November 6, 1990 in a joint agreement between the Smithsonian Institution and the United States Postal Service. The Postal Square Building – which served as D.C.’s main city post office from 1914-1986 – underwent a massive renovation to accommodate the new museum.

Although the museum itself is just 30 years old, the National Philatelic Collection was established at the Smithsonian Institution in 1886. Generous gifts from individuals and foreign governments, transfers from government agencies, and occasional purchases have increased the collection to today's total of more than 6 million items!
From 1908 until 1963, the collection was housed in the Smithsonian's Arts and Industries Building on the National Mall. In 1964, the objects were moved to the museum that is now known as the National Museum of American History. There, the collection expanded to include postal history and stamp production. The objects were then moved to their present location at the National Postal Museum.

The museum doubled in size in 2013 with the opening of the William H. Gross Stamp Gallery. In addition to 35,000 square feet devoted to exhibition space, the museum houses a 6,000-square-foot research library, a stamp store, and a museum shop. The museum is powered by a staff of 40, as well as a dedicated group of security and facility employees, and dozens of amazing volunteers.

The National Postal Museum gratefully acknowledges the continued patronage and commitment of the United States Postal Service. Without USPS support, the National Postal Museum would be unable to create exhibitions, conduct scholarly research, or produce exciting public and educational programs.

We’re also deeply appreciative of our donors who provide the dependable, creative, and flexible support needed for the museum to thrive! And a very sincere thanks to our visitors and supporters on social media. Without you, we’d have no one with whom to share the museum’s collection, and all its wonderful – and sometimes weird – stories! Pictured here are visitors to the museum on July 30, 1993, enthusiastically lined up to purchase the block of four commemorative stamps issued for opening day, to obtain a first day of issue cover, to receive a unique cancel for the occasion, or all of the above.

07/30/2023

Check out a new blog by curator Lynn Heidelbaugh about a digitization project made possible by the American Women's History Initiative!

Between late 2022 and the summer of 2023 the museum’s curatorial, collections, and social media staff worked to preserve the papers, create digital records, analyze the materials, and begin sharing information recently compiled about these three accessions to enable new inquiries in women’s history. Our goal has been to develop records that will be discoverable on the museum’s online collection search feature and to enable future researchers to access the material that may result in findings, which further understanding and historical interpretation.

Between late 2022 and the summer of 2023 the museum’s curatorial, collections, and social media staff worked to preserve the papers, create digital records, analyze the materials, and begin sharing information recently compiled about these three accessions to enable new inquiries in women’s hist...

07/19/2023

In the fall of 2022, staff at the National Postal Museum coordinated the transfer of 142 postal uniforms and related objects from the National Museum of American History to a Smithsonian shared collection storage location managed by the Postal Museum (The National Philatelic Collection was originally with NMAH before the Postal Museum was established in 1993). The objects include postal jackets, hats, trousers, accessories such as ties and belts, and more. Check out the first of three blog posts that will focus on the history of the postal workwear collection and the review and cataloging process. The upcoming posts will detail the documentation and imaging effort and reflect on what the project means for the collection and related objects going forward.
https://postalmuseum.si.edu/roll-up-your-sleeves-postal-workwear-cataloging-project-at-the-national-postal-museum

07/11/2023

This hand puppet had a brief but lively career with the United States Postal Inspection Service. Elwood P. Zap, AKA Mr. Zap, was a reformed legendary villain who toured the country sharing his first-hand knowledge of postal crimes. Mr. Zap urged his audiences to be vigilant against potential criminal activity such as mail fraud, mail theft, and mail room security. He also may or may not be Mr. ZIP's alter ego... Mr. Zap made appearances at the five regional conferences for the 1979 National Postal Forum series as a means to spice up the Postal Inspection Service’s educational programming. One of the nation's oldest federal law enforcement agencies, the United States Postal Inspection Service protects mail, post offices and postal employees. Inspectors have a wide range of duties, from restoring postal service after a disaster to capturing drug traffickers and protecting citizens from mail fraud.

07/11/2023

Born in 1943, Arthur Ashe was the first African American man to win Grand Slam tennis tournaments — Wimbledon and the United States and Australian Opens. Ashe became as renowned for his intellect, moral character, and commitment to social causes as for his prowess on the tennis courts of the world.

A month before Ashe died, "Sports Illustrated" named him "Sportsman of the Year" and ran this color photograph of Ashe by Michael O'Neill on the cover of the December 21, 1992, issue. This softly lit, photographic portrait shows a bespectacled Ashe holding a tennis racket in semi-profile against a black background. It served as the inspiration for this 2005 commemorative stamp.

©USPS; all rights reserved.

07/04/2023

Happy Fourth Of July! The American flag has had many inceptions and its design has evolved over time. Yet, these stories and legends that are passed down through the generations remain, with the same symbolic meaning of unity and strength. The 2006 Flag and Statue of Liberty stamp shown here, depicts the American Flag waving in the wind behind a majestic Lady Liberty. The design features a melding of two photographic images. The artists, Carl and Anne Purcell, took two pictures, one of the Statue of Liberty from the boat that ferries visitors to the island and one of the American flag flying on the island. The Purcells then superimposed the blue-green Statue of Liberty over the flying flag, but made the stars and stripes visible behind the torch.

© United States Postal Service. All rights reserved.

06/30/2023

Ready for a dose of vitamin sea? Tomorrow is but we’re celebrating a little early with a groundbreaking woman poet and activist, Julia de Burgos. The beachy background is a tribute to her birthplace of Puerto Rico.

She tackled themes of feminism, equality, and social justice in her writing, often bringing to light the struggles of the oppressed and advocating for personal and political freedom. Her work paved the way for many contemporary writers and she’s considered a founding voice in the Nuyorican movement.

Learn more about de Burgos and other women innovators: https://s.si.edu/443WysC

This stamp from Smithsonian National Postal Museum was issued in 2010 by the U.S. Postal Service. It was the 26th issued in the Literary Arts series. ©United States Postal Service. All rights reserved.

06/30/2023

In June 1867—156 years ago—Special Agent Charles M. Davis died from wounds sustained while transporting U.S. Mail in the Colorado territory. An attack on a Wells Fargo stagecoach resulted in the death of a driver and severe wounds for Special Agent Davis, who helped the nine passengers and remaining driver during the attack by reloading weapons for their defense from the floor of the stagecoach. Davis died three days later. Historical research by Postal Inspector Travis Smoot uncovered details of the events and confirmed Special Agent Davis as the first known postal inspector to die from wounds suffered in the line duty. To learn more about postal inspectors who have lost their lives, visit our Behind the Badge: In Memoriam page: https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibition/behind-the-badge-postal-inspection-service-duties-and-history/in-memoriam

The history of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service begins with the formation of the new nation. The first Surveyor General of Post Roads William Goddard was appointed on August 7, 1775, under the Second Continental Congress. The duties of the surveyor helped to ensure the efficiency and security of mail routes. By 1830 an office was set aside for the Post Office Department’s special agents. The title “Special Agent” changed to “Postal Inspector” in 1880, this badge dates to about 1900. Although Charles Davis did not wear such a badge while on duty as a Special Agent, he is part of the long history of duty and service to the agency.

06/28/2023

The Festival is just around the corner!

In 2023, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival celebrates diverse American cultures through two programs: “Creative Encounters: Living Religions in the U.S.” and “The Ozarks: Faces and Facets of a Region.” As always, the Festival invites visitors to participate in music and dance performances, hands-on activities, craft workshops, conversations, and cooking and gardening demonstrations. Mark your calendars for June 29–July 4 and July 6–9, and learn more at festival.si.edu!

06/19/2023

Although Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, which freed enslaved individuals, slavery persisted in Confederate-controlled regions as the Civil War raged on. The Confederate Army surrendered in April 1865, effectively ending the war; it would take Union troops another couple months to finally bring the news of their overdue emancipation to more than 250,000 enslaved Black people living in Texas. This day – June 19, 1865 – came to be known as , which has been celebrated for over 150 years.

Pictured here is the 5¢ Emancipation Proclamation stamp by award-winning graphic designer Georg Olden. Issued in 1963, this bold, allegorical commemorative for the hundredth anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation was the first U.S. postage stamp designed by postage stamp designed by an African American.

06/15/2023

Happy Flag Day! On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress in Philadelphia adopted the Stars and Stripes as the national flag. The subsequent 1818 Flag Act standardized the design of the U.S. flag: 13 stripes representing the original 13 colonies, and as many stars as states. Prior to the Flag Act of 1818, the nation’s official flag showed 15 stars and 15 stripes. The expansion of the union to 20 states in 1817 required a flag reconfiguration. Rather than increasing the number of stripes each time a new state joined the union, the Flag Act reduced their number to 13, signifying the original 13 colonies, and increased the number of stars to reflect the current number of states in the union. The act specified that a new star would be added on the Fourth of July following the admission of a new state.

In commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the Flag Act, USPS issued this postage stamp. There were 20 states in the Union when the Flag Act went into effect, as demonstrated by the stamp. The U.S. flag has had 50 stars since July 4, 1960, when Hawaii became the 50th state.

© USPS. All rights reserved.

06/11/2023

Postal employees who postmarked mail found that the task was simpler with a hand movement allowed by a long handle, akin to hammering. This long handled handstamp, circa 1895, was a postal employee's modification. Not until the Pitney Bowes model S-55 handstamp was introduced were postmarking devices supplied with an extended handle.

The employee modification consisted of removing the usual vertically-placed wooden handle and ferrule. This left an upright spike projecting from the back of the postmarker head or cross-bar. The spike could be threaded or placed through a split at the end of the handle that was bolted together to secure the head in place. Pretty clever!

06/10/2023

Educators from the Postal Museum will be presenting on Wednesday, July 19 at 12pm ET on “Promoting Historical Thinking Skills in Young Learners” during . This 3 day free hybrid event is designed to celebrate and honor educators and magnify instructional resources that inspire curiosity and connections in a changing world. Register to attend this session and more at the link below!

Together We Thrive: Fostering a Sense of BelongingGet ready for an exceptional professional learning opportunity! Join us online or in person from July 18-20, 2023 for our free, three-day Smithsonian National Education Summit. This annual education conference offers in-person workshops at the Smiths...

06/08/2023

This tin can mailbox was soldered shut and painted with the message "Please send this Letterbox to the Post Office Honolulu." The mailbox is approximately the size of a five-pound bag of sugar. The top of the can, which was roughly cut to release the contents, still rests inside and bears the message "Please open here!" No specific information was provided with this object when it was transferred from the Post Office Department to the Smithsonian Institution. There is, however, a well-recorded history of a mail service in Niuafo'ou--an island between Samoa and Fiji in the South Pacific--that utilized tin can mailboxes.

Pre-1900 mail delivery to the island had been attempted by throwing or rocket-propelling sealed tins of mail from passing ships, a scheme with unpredictable results. Around 1921 local trader Charles Stuart Ramsay began delivering mail to ships using swimmers who held the mail aloft on sticks. This method was upgraded to delivering and retrieving mail from ships using canoes and sealed fifty-pound biscuit tins. Mail issuing from or specially cancelled on the island was taken by ship, as in the case of this object, to the U.S. post office in Honolulu, Hawaii, for processing.

06/07/2023

Today marks the 79th anniversary of Allied forces storming the beaches at Normandy, France. Dated June 6, 1944, this Army Signal Corps photo is accompanied by an official caption that identifies the event as V-mail stationery being handed out to GIs before they leave on the covert D-Day mission. With the battle imminent, one can imagine the emotional turmoil in composing a message that may have been a final letter of goodbye.

The caption reads: “ENGLAND….Members of the 82nd Airborne Division, 508th Regiment, are given V-Mail blanks to write their last letters home, before taking off from an airfield in Saltby, England, to play their part in the invasion of the European continent.”

V-Mail used standardized stationery and microfilm processing to produce lighter, smaller cargo so mail could be expedited by air transport to and from American armed forces members serving overseas. Military officials encouraged troops to write letters and sustain their connection to loved ones at home, but also controlled the mail's content through censorship of strategic information. Most likely, this photograph was taken on June 5th.

Image appears courtesy of the National Archives.

06/04/2023

Virtual Story Time | Monday, June 5 | 11am ET | Zoom

Celebrate World Oceans Day with the book 'SHARK LADY The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean's Most Fearless Scientist!" Known as the “Shark Lady” for the amazing work she did studying and caring for sharks, Eugenie Clark was honored with a U.S. postage stamp in 2022. Many people think of sharks as dangerous creatures, but Clark illuminated how amazing they are and how important that they are for a healthy marine ecosystem. Children can dive into the story of Clark then design their own ocean-themed postage stamp.

Recommended for ages 4-7, but all are welcome. Registration required: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/story-time-with-the-national-postal-museum-registration-141338917507

06/02/2023

Gertrude Melissa Nix Pridgett Rainey (1886-1939) captivated audiences with her distinctive voice and dynamic stage presence. Known as “Ma” as well as “The Mother of Blues,” Rainey’s musical legacy has been acknowledged through her inductions into the Blue Foundation Blues Hall of Fame (1983), Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame (1990), and the Georgia Music Hall of Fame (1992) as well as “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” – a 1982 play by August Wilson and a 2020 Academy award-winning film. She became one of the first Black female musicians to record an album after signing with Paramount Records in 1923 and went on to record nearly 100 popular records in a five year span, bringing blues music to a national audience. She also wrote many of her own songs, which was unique for vocalists of the time. Rainey, who separated from her husband and fellow performer after several years of marriage, was known to have had relationships with both men and women. The iconic performer was honored with this postage stamp, issued in 1994 as part of the Legends of American Music Stamp Series.



©U.S. Postal Service. All rights reserved.

06/01/2023

Before this spring is over, check out this small snippet from the May 1930 The Household Magazine saved by Lou and Mary Slade, mother and daughter postmasters from Rocheport, MO. They carefully stored clippings from periodicals in a ledger book that was officially for the rural routes served by their post office. They gave the “Spring Tasties” a unique treatment by stitching together the pages (see upper right of the image). We love their ingenuity in lieu of a paperclip!

05/22/2023

Virtual Story Time | Monday, May 22 | 11am ET | Zoom

Celebrate Asian American, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders Heritage Month with the book A Life Made by Hand: The Story of Ruth Asawa by Andrea D’Aquino. Participants will explore the USPS Ruth Asawa postage stamps as well as items from other Smithsonian Museums other SI collection items, followed by an Asawa inspired craft activity!

Recommended for ages 4-7, but all are welcome. Registration required: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/story-time-with-the-national-postal-museum-registration-141338917507

05/14/2023

Happy Mother’s Day!

This commemorative stamp was issued on May 2, 1934. President and philatelist Franklin Delano Roosevelt sketched the initial design, drawing inspiration from James Whistler’s iconic painting “Arrangement in Grey and Black, No. 1” (often referred to as “Whistler’s Mother”).

The idea for a Mother’s Day stamp had been presented to the President by Mrs. H. H. McCluer of Kansas City, a past National President of the American War Mothers. FDR, who was known to have been especially devoted to his own mother, was fully on board.

As a memento, the President presented his Mother's Day stamp sketch to his first Postmaster General, James A. Farley; this sketch was graciously donated to the Smithsonian Institution and can be seen here.

05/12/2023

Issued in 1984 for the 25th anniversary of Hawaiian statehood, this stamp featured elements of Hawaiian culture: an erupting volcano, and a golden plover—a bird that winters in Hawaii. First-day sales of this stamp topped all USPS records at the time.

©United States Postal Service. All rights reserved.

05/11/2023

The Postal Museum recently expanded information about two accessions related to women’s history as part of our ongoing digitization project funded by the American Women’s History Initiative . This includes the Post Office ledgers used by Bessie Malone, postmaster of Blackdom, New Mexico, 1917-1919; and Lou Slade and her daughter Mary Slade, postmasters of Rocheport, Missouri, 1908-1938 and 1938-1956, respectively. The online records include images of the ephemera on cooking and home economics that the Slades stored in their postal ledger: https://collections.si.edu/search/results

05/08/2023

The museum recently processed 90 original works of art on paper, oil paintings, and three-dimensional objects from the Postmaster General’s Collection. The processing of new objects involves coordinating an annual transfer from the United States Postal Service, reviewing each object to assess its conservation needs, and creating a detailed object record in the museum’s database. A new blog post by the museum’s conservator outlines the steps taken to preserve original art used to create three iconic stamp series issued in 2012. Each stamp series was designed by a different artist and represents its own unique preservation challenges regarding materials and techniques. Viewed as a collection of case studies, these artworks offer compelling insights into best practices for repairing and stabilizing modern works of art on paper.

This post outlines the steps taken to preserve original art used to create three iconic stamp series issued in 2012. Each stamp series was designed by a different artist and represents its own unique preservation challenges regarding materials and techniques. Viewed as a collection of case studies,....

05/06/2023

Virtual Story Time | Monday, May 8 | 11am ET

Together we will read “Dear Juno” by Soyung Pak and discuss communicating across different languages and continents. Recommended for 3-6 years, but all ages welcome! Register your young learner at the link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/story-time-with-the-national-postal-museum-registration-141338917507

05/05/2023

Una fecha de gran importancia para las comunidades de mexicanos y mexicano-americanos, el Cinco de Mayo conmemora la victoria del ejército mexicano sobre los franceses en la Batalla de Puebla, el 5 de mayo de 1862. En ese día durante la ocupación francesa de México, el general Zaragoza y sus tropas salieron victoriosos contra la mayor potencia militar del mundo en ese momento. Los mexicanos que anteriormente habían mostrado poco interés en el futuro de país sintieron orgullo, nacionalismo y determinación para defender Mexico de la soberanía. La frase ¡Viva El Cinco de Mayo! Inspiró a un número creciente de mexicanos para ayudar a su país durante la guerra que duró desde 1863 hasta 1867.

En los Estados Unidos, la gente de ascendencia mexicana celebran este día significativo con desfiles, música de mariachi, baile folklórico, y otros tipos de actividades festivas. La celebración mexicana da a los estadounidenses la oportunidad de celebrar el orgullo cultural y sus esperanzas para el bienestar, la dignidad y el progreso de México y los mexicanos en todas partes.

A date of great importance for Mexican and Mexican-American communities, Cinco de Mayo marks the victory of the Mexican Army over the French at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. On that day during the French occupation of Mexico, General Zaragoza and his troops were victorious over the greatest military power in the world at that time. Mexicans who had previously shown little interest in their country’s future felt pride, nationalism, and determination to defend Mexico’s sovereignty. The phrase “Viva el Cinco de Mayo!” inspired increasing numbers of Mexicans to aid their country during the war that lasted from 1863 to 1867.

In the United States, people of Mexican descent celebrate this significant day by having parades, mariachi music, folklorico dancing, and other types of festive activities. The celebration gives Mexican Americans an opportunity to celebrate their cultural pride and their hopes for the well-being, dignity, and advancement of Mexico and Mexican people everywhere.



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