The Walter W. Hopkinson Memorial Award was established in 1953 in honor of Walter W. Hopkinson, by his wife, Mrs. Constance B. Hopkinson. The award is given annually to the author of the best article or series of articles published in The United States Specialist, the monthly journal of the United States Stamp Society.
The award honors Hopkinson’s interest in philatelic scholarship and the dissemination of research and knowledge through the Society’s publications. Hopkinson was a plate number specialist as well as a vigorous supporter and long-time member of the Bureau Issues Association, as the Society was then known. The first award was given in 1954, and it has been presented annually thereafter. The award consists of an engraved plaque with the Society’s seal, and an honorarium.
Walter Hopkinson Memorial Award Winners
| Yr. | Winner | Article/Series Title |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Greg Ajamian, Robert Rufe, Harry Brittain | Scott #C23c - The Whole Story |
| 2020 | Steve Altman | Al Fluegel and the Missing 68s and Expertizing a Unique Fluegel FDC |
| 2019 | Harry G. Brittain | Kaolin Content in the Paper Used by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to Produce 1¢ and 2¢ Stamps Between 1894 and 1908 |
| 2018 | Ken Zierer | The Dubious Origins of the Scott Listed Variety #424e” |
| 2017 | Larry S. Weiss and Kevin G. Lowther | Development of the Stickney Rotary Press - 12 part Series |
| 2016 | Harry K. Charles, Jr. and Clarke Yarbrough | Possession Postage Dues for Philippines, Puerto Rico, and other Possessons (Parts 1-4) |
| 2015 | David Crotty | Computer Vended Postage -Barcodes on Your Mail |
| 2014 | James Robinson | Unrecorded Early Use of the First Electric -Eye Issue - The Fourth Bureau 2c Washington Rotary of 1935 |
| 2013 | Richard J. Nazar | Modern Coil Stamp Production Series |
| 2012 | Ken Lawrence | Unpublished Air Mail Rates for U.S. Pacific Island Possessions 1935-1946 |
| 2011 | Kevin G. Lowther | Exploring the Washington-Franklin Roulettes |
| 2010 | Harry K. Charles, Jr. | Series on Postal and Treasury Savings Systems |
| 2009 | Larry S. Weiss & Gerald Nylander | Series on Two patterns of ‘USPS’ Double Line Watermarks |
| 2008 | Larry S. Weiss | Why Collect the U.S. Washington-Franklin Heads? A 100th Anniversary Tribute |
| 2007 | Robert G. Rufe | The U. S. Special Handling Issues |
| 2006 | Wallace Cleland | AMG Plate Blocks |
| 2005 | Nicholas Lombardi | The U. S. Registry Label & Receipt of 1907 |
| 2004 | Melvin Getlan | Follow-up On Early Usage Of Dummy Test Stamps |
| 2003 | Roger S. Brody | Raymond Ostrander Smith Pencil Drawings - Series 1902 |
| 2002 | Wallace Cleland | Series on Plate Numbers and Plate Markings |
| 2001 | John S. Meek | United States Postage Selvage Markings |
| 2000 | Larry S. Weiss | Detecting Watermarks |
| 1999 | Roger S. Brody | Y1.9K - Handling the Mails at the Turn of the Century |
| 1998 | James H. Patterson | Small Die Proofs of the 20th Century's Second Quarter |
| 1997 | Brian Baba | United States Savings Booklets |
| 1996 | Louis Repeta | Ths Stickney Rotary Printing Press |
| 1995 | Kenneth Diehl | The 2¢ Stamps of the First Bureau Issue |
| 1994 | Gary Griffith | U.S. 1922 Definitive Series, The Fourth Bureau Issue |
| 1993 | John Meek | Tax Act 1898 |
| 1968 | Loran C. French | Plate Varieties on Bureau Issue Plate Blocks |
| 1992 | George W. Brett | The U.S. 3¢ 1890-1894 Die and the 1894 Types I and II |
| 1991 | Larry Weiss | Designing and Engraving the Washington-Franklin Series |
| 1990 | Louis Repeta | Stickney Rotary Press Printing Varieties |
| 1989 | Jay Stotts | Rate Usages of the Fourth Bureau Issue |
| 1988 | Bruce H. Mosher | Plating the 1987 Locomotives Booklet Panes |
| 1987 | James H. Bruns | Mail Delivery Trucks: A Decade of Decision |
| 1986 | W. Wallace Cleland | Washington-Franklin Series Coil Waste Issue |
| 1985 | Stuart Gitlow | Contemporary Postal History |
| 1984 | Larry S. Weiss | Washington-Franklin Head Issues |
| 1983 | John M. Hotchner | Major Perforation Varieties of the 20th Century |
| 1982 | Steven R. Belasco | Characteristics of Genuine Vending and Affixing Machine Perforations |
| 1981 | Roland Rustad | The Fifth Bureau Issue (1938 - 1943) The Presidential Series |
| 1980 | Charles Yeager | New Issues Forum Series |
| 1979 | Randell E. Bart | United States Commodity or Non-Postal Booklet Issues |
| 1978 | John S. Meek | Siderographers and Plate Finishers Initials |
| 1977 | Henry W. Beecher | Series Analyzing and Interpreting Postal Rates |
| 1976 | Loran C. French | Plate Varieties (Committee Reports) |
| 1975 | Ralph L. Sloat | Farley's Follies |
| 1974 | Clark S. Crane | Types or Constant Varieties Luxembourg-Netherlands Issue, 1943 |
| 1973 | Samuel Smith | RN Revisited: A Survey of U.S. Revenue Stamped Paper |
| 1972 | Ralph L. Sloat | The U.S. Airmail Special Delivery Issue |
| 1971 | Jack V. Harvey | The B.I.A. and First Day Covers |
| 1970 | Robert C. Lorenzen | First Bureau Series (Plate Markings and Positions) |
| 1969 | J. Frank Braceland, Jr. | Newspapers and Periodicals |
| 1967 | Henry F. Davis | The Stamp of Approval |
| 1966 | Rev. John C. Ruback | United States Tax Paid Revenue Stamps |
| 1965 | Walter A. McIntire | United States Postage Due Stamps |
| 1964 | Lewis A. Miers | The Two and Five Dollar Stamps of the Bureau Issues |
| 1963 | Jerome Wolf | The Bureau Maketh...The Bureau Changeth |
| 1962 | Meyer Tuchinsky | The U.S. Postal Agency, Shanghai, China |
| 1961 | Lewis A. Miers | Odd Shades Among the Bureau Issues |
| 1960 | Robert L. Markovits | The United States Special Delivery Issue |
| 1959 | Dana A. Barrell | Inter. Hand-Driven Cancelling Machine |
| 1958 | George W. Brett | The Giori Press |
| 1957 | A.L. Van Nest | 2¢ Trans-Mississippi, A Study of Plate Pairs |
| 1956 | G. William Schall | The Errors and Varieties |
| 1955 | Walter E. Hopper | Electric Eye Types |
| 1954 | George W. Brett | The 8¢ Bi-Color, 1954 Series of Ordinaries |
| 1953 | Norman W. Kempf | Stuart Relief Breaks |