Ethel Bergstresser (Stewart) McCoy (June 20, 1893 – August 17, 1980), of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, was a

philatelist Philately (; ) is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. While closely associated with stamp collecting and the study of postage, it is possible ...

who created a number of stamp collections, and was active within the philatelic community. She was the daughter of

Charles Bergstresser Charles Milford Bergstresser (June 25, 1858 – September 20, 1923) was an American journalist and, with Charles Dow and Edward Jones, one of the founders of Dow Jones & Company at 15 Wall Street in 1882. Early life A native of Berrysburg, Pe ...

(1858–1923), one of the founders of Dow Jones & Co.

Collecting interests

Ethel McCoy is most noted for her collection of United States

airmail stamp An airmail stamp is a postage stamp intended to pay either an airmail fee that is charged in addition to the surface rate, or the full airmail rate, for an item of mail to be transported by air. Airmail stamps should not be confused with airmai ...

s, which included a block of four, acquired in 1936, of the famous “

Inverted Jenny The Inverted Jenny (also known as an Upside Down Jenny, Jenny Invert) is a 24 cent United States postage stamp first issued on May 10, 1918, in which the image of the Curtiss JN-4 airplane in the center of the design is printed upside-down; it is ...

” listed as C3a in the

Scott catalog The Scott catalogue of postage stamps, published by Scott Publishing Company, now a subsidiary of Amos Media, is updated annually and lists all the stamps of the world that its editors recognize as issued for postal purposes. It is published in f ...

. During the 1955

American Philatelic Society The American Philatelic Society (APS) is the largest nonprofit stamp collecting foundation of philately in the world. Both the membership and interests of the society are worldwide. History The organization, originally named the ''American Phila ...

Convention, held in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

, the very valuable block was stolen. In 1979, the year before she died, she bequeathed the block, if it could be found, to the

American Philatelic Research Library The American Philatelic Research Library (APRL), based in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, is the largest public philatelic library in the United States. The library serves the needs of the members of the American Philatelic Society (APS) – with which ...

. In an investigation led by philatelic "detective" James H. Beal, the two stamps on the left side of the block of four (positions 65 and 75) were eventually recovered.

Philatelic activity

Ethel McCoy was one of the first women to break the appearance of an all-male barrier in the philatelic community, and in 1937 she was named director of the American Air Mail Society.

Honors and awards

McCoy was named to the American Philatelic Society Hall of Fame in 1981.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McCoy, Ethel Bergstresser American philatelists 1893 births 1980 deaths American Philatelic Society Women philatelists