What do George S. Champlin, Robert T. Galkin and Col. Webster Knight have in common? All were stamp collectors. Being men of means, they assembled huge and valuable collections. All three collections are now part of the Brown University Special Collections, housed in the John Hay Library.

Now, three other men who are also stamp collectors are the caretakers of the assembled collection, worth an estimated $20 million: Louis McGowan, Thomas Greene and Chester Browning. McGowan is also the president of the Johnston Historical Society, Greene is a noted historian from North Providence and Browning is the retired state photographer and is also archivist for T.F. Green Airport. All are members of the Rhode Island Philatelic Society, the oldest continuously run stamp-collecting club in the United States. Browning is currently president of the society.

McGowan has been volunteering for three or four years, but more regularly during the last year. Both retirees, Browning has been volunteering for a year, and Greene since 1995.

In 1933, Col. Webster Knight, Class of 1876, bequeathed an almost complete collection of mint United States postage stamps, in blocks of four, along with mint and used singles and blocks of revenue stamps to his alma mater. The Knight Collection, which specializes in “errors,” served as a magnet to attract the Peltz and Morriss Collections of Special Delivery stamps, in 1947 and 1960, as well as the George S. Champlin Memorial Stamp Collection of international issues, which began arriving in 1960. Called one of the largest international collections, Champlin’s original donation, which included six volumes of stamps, had grown to more than 100 volumes by the time of his death in 1980 and now includes more than 200 volumes. An annual endowment of $50,000 has ensured that the collection will continue to grow.

Champlin, a successful jewelry manufacturer, and Knight, a prominent banker, both left endowments with their gifts of their collections to Brown University. Another major donation, the Robert T. Galkin (Class of 1949) Collection of first-day covers was presented to the library in 1976. Many of the stamps, plate blocks and stamp sheets are kept in locked, vertical storage shelving, mounted archivally, under glass, in a third-floor room. Hundreds of postage stamp volumes line the shelves in a second floor room. Both rooms are closely monitored for temperature and humidity. The earliest stamp in the collections is the “Penny Black,” the first pre-paid adhesive stamp ever issued, in Britain in 1840. Before this time, those receiving a letter would have to pay the postage upon receipt.

“The public calls them stamps; we call them ‘philatelic specimens,’” joked Browning.

The collection also includes specimens of the first adhesive stamps used in the United States, in 1842, and the first “provisional stamps” issued in Providence in 1846 – blocks of each.

One of the more famous “error” stamps in the collection is the 1901 “Pan-American Exposition issue,” which, printed in two colors, had the center of the design printed upside-down, the second color plate of the printing process inverted. The collection includes a block of four of the green and black one cent issue, valued at $500,000, but only a single of the red and black two-cent issue and three-cent brown and black issue – only because a block has not been found or is too expensive.

“The unique thing about this collection is that it’s blocks,” said Greene. On the “job” since 1995, Greene learned the finer points of caring for the collection from the late Brent Thurston, who started to volunteer around 1977 and was still volunteering – in his 90s – until his death in 2008. “Now I’m the ‘senior member,’” said Greene.

One of McGowan’s first tasks was to index all the books, by subject, country and shelf location. Many countries have changed names over the years, or no longer exist, making it a challenge to categorize alphabetically. Before Thurston’s death, the long-time curator could locate any stamp he was looking for, without an index.

“It was in Brent’s head,” said Greene, who has been working to make a computerized list of the inventory.

“It’s an awesome responsibility – we are all collectors, and we all like history,” said Browning. “That’s why we work here – we could never afford these.”

The collection is actually running out of space, and new exhibit space is in the process of being added. A new display case, weighing 2,500 pounds, had to be lifted by crane through a second-story window.

“Some people collect stamps, others collect ‘first day covers.’ Tom and I collect covers with cancellations from local village post offices,” said McGowan.

Greene has a cover marked “West Scituate,” the only one known in existence. McGowan owns the only known “manuscript cancellation” marked “Olneyville.” “Before 1847, the postmaster would write the amount paid, the date and a town mark,” McGowan explained.

“There was no such thing as a cancellation at that time; there was nothing to cancel. There was a device to ‘kill’ a stamp, so it wouldn’t be used again,” added Greene.

Greene is considering adding another collection to his own collections: Christmas seals. He recently bid $1,400 on some from 1913 but lost to another bidder. He also collects antique maps. Browning, a resident of West Warwick, specializes in Rhode Island airmail covers.

The Brown University Special Collections stamp collections also include many sub-categories, such as revenue stamps for newspapers, liquor stamps, playing card stamps and confederate stamps – “back of the book stuff,” as McGowan calls it.

The John Hay Library is located at 20 Prospect St. in Providence, and the building is open to the public. Tours of the philatelic rooms are given by appointment, but a special meeting at the collection will be held in conjunction with the R.I. Philatelic Society’s 125th anniversary on Jan. 20, 2010. The Rhode Island Philatelic Society, with members of all ages and collector levels, meets monthly in Cranston from September through June, on the first Tuesday of the month. They hold regular stamp shows and offer a youth program. For more information about the library call 863-3723. For more information on stamp collecting, visit http://home.comcast.net/~riphilatelic.