NAPEX History
On January 11, 1949, officers of the Washington Philatelic Society incorporated as NAtional Philatelic EXhibitions of Washington D.C., an independent association to promote philately in the greater Washington area.From the beginning, NAPEX's mission was to sponsor philatelic exhibitions. The first show took place September 6-9, 1950 at the Shoreham Hotel. Joseph A. Herbert, Jr., chairman of the NAPEX corporation, appointed Svend Yort as show chairman. NAPEX 1950 was one of only a few national-level exhibitions held that year.
Harry Lindquist, the well known philatelic publisher and founder of the National Federation of Stamp Clubs, chose NAPEX 1950 to hold that organization's first convention. Other organizations that convened at NAPEX that year were the Essay-Proof Society, Confederate Stamp Alliance, Bureau Issues Association, and the 3¢ 1851-57 Unit (which later became the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society).
A long hiatus followed the great success of 1950. In 1961, Svend Yort reorganized NAPEX, expanding its committee membership beyond the Washington Philatelic Society to other stamp clubs in the Baltimore-Washington area. With new vigor, NAPEX planned a major exhibition for 1964, to coincide with the opening of the Smithsonian Institution's new National Museum of History and Technology and its Hall of Philately and Postal History.
NAPEX’s second show was held September 17-20, 1964. Fifteen national and specialized philatelic societies—including the American Philatelic Society and the Society of Philatelic Americans—held their annual conventions at NAPEX, the first time in philatelic history that so many major stamp societies convened at a single national show. In addition, the Smithsonian Institution arranged special tours and lectures in the new Hall of Philately and Postal History. NAPEX was the most important philatelic event in the U.S. in 1964.
With Seymour B. Stiss as chairman, NAPEX held its third event May 21-23, 1971 at the Shoreham Hotel. For the rest of the 1970s, NAPEX held shows every other year, all of them at the Twin Bridges Marriott in Arlington, Virginia under the chairmanship of John N. Hoffman. The 1975 show was notable for the participation of the Washington Plate Printers Union, who issued two special souvenir cards which they printed on an antique spider press at the show.
After 1980, NAPEX was held annually. However, it experienced something of a decline in the early '80s. The deaths of George Turner, Svend Yort, and John Hoffman took a toll on the organization's leadership corps. The 1980 and 1982 shows were held on the Fourth of July weekend, cutting into attendance. Hoffman died three days after the close of the 1982 show.
Milton Mitchell became show chairman and held NAPEX 83 in early June, a pattern that is still followed today. It was the largest show since 1979, with 368 frames of exhibits and a bourse of 41 dealers. In 1984 the show moved to the Sheraton National Hotel in Arlington; in 1995 it moved to the McLean Hilton, where it has been held every year except 2006, when NAPEX was not held because of the Washington 2006 international show.
