APS StampCampus - Collecting FDC Instructor Bio

Instructor Biography
Collecting First Day Covers

Marjory J. Sente

Collecting stamps since the fourth grade, Marjory Sente has concentrated most of her energy on collecting and studying twentieth-century United States material. Her primary philatelic interest is the 1932 Washington Bicentennial Series followed closely by first day covers.

Marj is best known for her extensive writing about FDCs. Her columns appeared regularly in the philatelic press from 1977 thru 2006.

Her first day cover columns have appeared in Stamp Collector, National Stamp News, Linn's Stamp News, Stamps and Mekeels. Her articles on various philatelic subjects have been published in The American Philatelist, First Days, Stamp Wholesaler, Scott's Stamp Monthly, Brookman Times, The D.A.R. Magazine, and The Penn Stater magazine. She has had articles published by Country Living magazine.

She was elected to the First Day Cover Hall of Fame in 1983 and has received honorable mention twice in the AFDCS Ward Award competition. She also received the APS Century Award for recruiting more than 100 new members for the Society.

She has given seminars on various philatelic subjects and is a panelist for the Women in Philately's Estate Planning Seminar.

Marj has a B.A. in anthropology from Penn State.

In 1997, Penn State offered Marj's initial course on FDCs as an independent learning course. It has been completely revamped, and is offered in its revised format here as "An Introduction to First Day Covers" by the American Philatelic Society.

She currently resides in Arizona with her husband Frank. She is coordinating a $3million capital campaign for Yavapai Big Brothers Big Sisters.