Lawrence L. Shenfield - Philatelic Career

Philatelic Career

Shenfield was a prominent expert, collector and writer of philatelic literature on Confederate philately. In 1942, he published a pamphlet on Prisoner of War and Flag of Truce mail. Shenfield subsequently was active in the Collectors Club of New York and numerous philatelic congresses. At the 1946 Philatelic Congress, Shenfield presented Letter Unpaid Marking of Louisville, Kentucky. In 1955, the Confederate Stamp Alliance awarded Shenfield the Haydn Myer Award in recognition of his distinguished service to the Alliance. In 1959, along with F. Van Dyk MacBride, Shenfield co-chaired the editorial board for the Dietz Confederate Catalog and Handbook.

Shenfield's most widely known book on Confederate States postal history, Confederate States of America, The Special Postal Routes, was published in 1961. The book is generally known as the best single source for the various special postal operations of the Confederate States of America and is regarded as a major reference work in the area of Confederate philately by prominent philatelic auction houses, stamp collectors and philatelists. Stamps and covers formerly owned by Shenfield in his collection are frequently identified in the catalogues of major philatelic auction houses due to his prominence in the field.

Shenfield died in 1974 and is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York), New York. After his death, Shenfield's surviving sons, James Philip Shenfield and Lawrence Walker Shenfield, sold Shenfield's collection of Confederate stamps and philatelic covers at public auction through H.R. Harmer in New York City. Each year, Shenfield's essay on Confederate postal usage and routes is included in the introduction to Confederate States stamps in the Scott catalogue.