ESPER AT BALPLEX 2026

Laurice Redhead-DC, Elizabeth Frazier, Lead for the 6888 Stamp Project, Adrea William, Project Member, Jean Lewis, ESPER MD, DC, DE Director and Betty Sessions, ESPER MD

Farnese Hicks, MD and Howard Ingram President of ESPER

Howard Ingram President of ESPER, Don Neal, Reflection Editor and Karen Betha, MD

Regina Bullock, Baltimore ESPER and Betty Sessions, Maryland/Philadelphia ESPER

First Time Exhibitor wins First Place

First Place in the Informal Class

Jean Lewis, ESPER MD, DC, DE Director

This was Jean's first time exhibiting at a stamp show. The exhibit was in the Informal Class-Non Competitive. Exhibits in this class are not judged. They are, however, voted on by persons attending BALPEX as "my favorite" in the Informal Class. Each attendee received a ballot in their program book.
The Informal Class is: A place for "exhibits in the making". A place for new exhibitors. A place to experiment. A place for short subjects. A place to just say "Look at this neat stuff"

Jean's exhibit title: Members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated® on U.S. Postage Stamps. Ten amazing women have been honored for their outstanding contributions to our country. They are: Jane Addams, Eleanor Roosevelt, Marian Anderson, Eleanor Roosevelt, Anna Julia Cooper and Rosa Parks.

"Man's Quest to Study and Conquer Space" by Caoimhe Corcoran. His multi-frame exhibit won the AAPE Youth Grand award, the Young Exhibitor Reserve Grand award, and a Baltimore Philatelic Society Gold Award. The exhibit included Cuban astronaut Arnaldo Tamoyo Méndez, the first Latin American and first person of African descent to travel in space. Also in the exhibit was the 1997 Mars Pathfinder rover named after Sojourner Truth. The displayed souvenir sheet contains the largest U. S. postage stamp ever produced. Stamps recognizing astronauts who perished in the Space Shuttle Challenger and Space Shuttle Columbia disasters, Ronald McNair and Michael Anderson respectively, also were included.

"Beyond the Perforation: Revolutionary Women and Their Stories" by Cynthia Turner (age 15). Her two-frame exhibit, recognized for being a participant in the American Association of Philatelic Exhibitors (AAPE) Youth Championship (WESTPEX Creativity Award) and by Women Exhibitors (WE), included stamps and covers featuring Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Harriet Jacobs, Madam C. J. Walker, Bessie Coleman, Ida B. Wells, Rosa Parks, Mary Church Terrell, Ella Baker, Ruby Hurley, and British civil rights activist Claudia Jones.