Page 49 - Demo

This cover was cancelled on July 1, 1971 in Lafayette, Indiana on the first day the cabinet-level Post Office Department was reorganized into the independent United States Postal Service. It was also the first day of release for the 8%u00a2 stamp%u2014at every Post Office in the United States, where these envelopes were available for free to customers. This cover was given to me by a former classmate, Alice Hession. Alice and I went to grade school and high school together, although we didn%u2019t know each other well. We were also both at Purdue at the same time, but I do not recall bumping into her there. She later earned a master's degree in theological studies from St. Meinrad School of Theology and an educational specialist degree in educational administration from Spalding University in Louisville. She was the founding principal of St. John Paul II Catholic High School in Huntsville, Alabama, and was the executive director of the Xaverian Brothers Sponsored Schools. In 2006, she was honored with a Distinguished Alumni Award from our alma mater, Central Catholic High School.After Alice contacted me in early 2023, and purchased one of my black-and-white photographs, she sent me this cover because she knew of my interest in philately. She said she had kept it from her time working at the Post Office years ago.