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Clare LaVergne
Position: Product Manager
Favorite project at PhotoAssist: For the last few years, I have written and edited the U.S. Postal Service’s annual stamp yearbook. It’s such an interesting look into the depth and breadth of each year’s stamp program. I get to learn so much about the work my colleagues do on each stamp subject and how the artists and art directors work to create beautiful and dynamic pieces of art.
Proudest accomplishment: In college I designed and produced a small book of a few short stories I had written. I learned how to use different design tools and got a better idea of all the work involved in the production of printed materials–– an area in which I continue to learn more on a daily basis at PhotoAssist!
Favorite quotation: “I am rooted, but I flow.”
-- Virginia WoolfHow I spend my spare time: I love to read, write, travel, spend time in nature, enjoy a good meal out with friends, find treasures in record stores, and attend author and poetry readings.
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Mary Stephanos
Position: Senior Researcher and Writer, Manager of Social Media
Favorite project at PhotoAssist: My favorite project so far has been the Julia de Burgos stamp for the U.S. Postal Service. I had never read de Burgos’s poetry before and found myself truly moved by her radical look at the world around her and by her rather tragic life story. The artwork on that stamp is wonderful as well: all blues and greens, with everything slightly askew, just like the woozy world de Burgos built in her poems.
How I spend my spare time: Reading, hiking, and listening to music take up much of my free time. My husband and I also love to travel (we met in Turkey!) and hang out with our pup and our pals.
Favorite quotation: “Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life.” —Rachel Carson
Proudest accomplishment: I successfully researched, wrote, and defended my Master’s thesis on ancient Greek religious groups in Asia Minor. It took two years of grit, but I managed to do it, and I love the end product.
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Kita Lawson
Position: Computer Programer, IT Technician
Ask me about: Sports, technology, and history
Food I can’t live without: Pizza
As a child, I wanted to be: An archeologist
Favorite website: ESPN.com
Three things I always have with me: A pen, my wallet, and my phone.
Favorite documentary: Ken Burns’s The Civil War
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Sidney Brown
Position: Executive Director, Founder
As co-founder of PhotoAssist, Sidney T. Brown has worked with the U.S. Postal Service for over 30 years. She continues to oversee all aspects of the research and clearance requirements for the U.S. stamp program. A graduate of Stanford University, she previously worked as a story editor for National Geographic Television, an account manager for the travel-services company USAssist, and a grant writer for National Public Radio.
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Sharon McDonald
Position: Accounting Operations Manager, Human Resources Director
Three things I always have with me: My iPad mini, reading glasses, and my cell phone.
Proudest accomplishment: I was a key participant in designing a disaster recovery program for a major bank.
Food I can’t live without: Potato salad
Where I go to find news online: CNN
How I spend my spare time: Traveling
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Jeff Sypeck
Position: Senior Researcher and Writer
Favorite quotation: I like this bit from Christopher Fry’s play The Lady’s Not For Burning:
“The brain a delicate mechanism; Almighty
God more precise than a clockmaker;
Grant us all a steady pendulum.”How I spend my spare time: Taking absurdly intensive road trips. In May 2012, I drove 3,685 miles in two weeks, stopping to visit friends and see neat things in 13 states.
Historical period I’d want to go back to: I’d love to visit medieval Europe and colonial America, and I’d enjoy seeing Baghdad in its heyday, but I spend enough time writing about the past to know that I’m content to live in the here and now.
Favorite place: It’s a toss-up: either a diner in New Jersey late at night or a beach resort in the dead of winter. As I grow older and the world gets louder, I appreciate the quiet.
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Doug Hill
Position: Chief Operating Officer
What was your favorite project to work on at PhotoAssist? The Earthscapes stamps. Using Google Earth to check out patterns on the ground was awesome.
What is your proudest accomplishment? Raising two talented, independent daughters!
How do you like to spend your spare time? Many interests: Zumba and golf for exercise, genealogy research—all with music playing!
What is your favorite book? Catch 22 by Joseph Heller. Where else can you learn about how to buy eggs for nine cents and sell them for six cents and make money?
What is your favorite quote? “Be assured that a walk through the ocean of most souls would scarcely get your feet wet.”
— Deteriorata, National LampoonIf you could live in another historical period, what would it be? American Revolutionary times. I would love to meet Ben Franklin.
What three things do you always have with you? Glasses, cell phone, and keys—lots of keys
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George Brown
Position: Photo Researcher and Photographer
Proudest accomplishment: Being a good father and husband. Other than those, I am incredibly proud that I rewired my 1957 Chevy, and it works!
Historical period I’d want to go back to: The roaring ‘20s. But the historical figure who I would want to meet, Sir Captain Richard Francis Burton, is from an earlier time.
Where I go to find news online: CNN and the Washington Post
Food I can’t live without: Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
Favorite documentary: I grew up watching Jacques Cousteau documentaries, so they have a special place in my heart and inspired me to get my diving certificate. I also enjoy the depth and diversity of the documentaries by Ken Burns.
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Regina Swygert-Smith
Position: Program Manager
Ask me about: Finding out how much postage is needed for a package…it figures. I grew up the daughter of a career postal employee who was responsible for putting life into the ZIP Code way back in 1963.
Favorite quotation: One that makes me smile is from Golda Meir: “Whether women are better than men, I cannot say—but I can say they are certainly no worse.”
How I spend my spare time: If I ever find any, I’ll let you know. Every minute seems to be occupied by the demands of a husband, breeding and showing my Norwich and Norfolk terriers, and PhotoAssist.
Favorite project at PhotoAssist: Tough to choose. Among my favorites: Legends of Baseball in 2000 with Louis Plummer when the project suddenly became active with a less-than-five-month deadline to issuance; and Southeastern Lighthouses in 2003 when I got to work with the “two Howards” (art director Howard E. Paine and artist Howard Koslow). Can’t forget my long-standing project, the Stamp Guide, officially The Postal Service Guide to U.S. Stamps.
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Paula Mashore
Position: Operations Manager
Favorite project at PhotoAssist: One of my earlier projects for PhotoAssist set the tone for the type of work I have often found rewarding. The task was to search visual and historical documents to insure that the stamp artist could accurately depict a scene of miners panning for gold in California in the late 1840s. The image he wanted to paint included everything from the clothing of the miners and their facial hair to the pans they used for their work and the topography of the landscape.
Proudest accomplishment: Personally, 28+ years of marriage and 25+ years of parenthood. Professionally, I’d probably say covering the war in El Salvador in the early ‘80s for the documentary unit at NBC, both because it was personally demanding on so many levels and because I felt the broadcast served the public good.
Favorite quotation: I guess it would be the quote I have on a little blue piece of paper tucked into a frame that sits on my dresser:
“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” —Picasso
How I spend my spare time: Going to movies and plays, visiting art galleries, enjoying a meal out with friends and/or family, sitting or walking by the ocean.
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Andrew Griswold
Position: Researcher and Writer
Professional Topics/Areas of Interest: My favorite stamp subjects are pop culture, music, and sports related. Though still new to the company, I'm enjoying the variety of topics we're able to research and feel a great sense of accomplishment at seeing a new stamp out in the world. I also love seeing the stamp art for the first time—it's like opening a gift a few extra times per year.
Favorite Quotation: “You can swim all day in the Sea of Knowledge and not get wet.”
––Norton JusterHow I Spend My Spare Time: Coaching soccer and baseball for my sons' teams, skiing, hiking, playing guitar, and exploring Maine and Eastern Canada.
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Scott Bolohan
Position: Researcher and Writer
Professional Topics/Areas of Interest: While I love history and pop culture, I think I’m the sports guy here. I run the literary baseball journal, The Twin Bill, coach high school baseball and soccer, and give Yankee Stadium tours. I was a sportswriter years ago. Now I play a baseball tournament in Turin every year and it’s my favorite thing I get to do in life.
Proudest Accomplishment: When I was an undergrad, I interviewed my favorite author for my school newspaper. He recommended me to a friend who hired me to interview her father in Budapest for two weeks. I turned 21 on a boat in the Danube. It was the first time anyone in my immediate family had been overseas and it opened up the world for me. I’ve been to more than 30 countries and proposed to my fiancé in front of the Pantheon.
Favorite Quotation: “Meow.”
––our cat Hephaestus telling me he loves me at exactly 6:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. every dayHow I Spend My Spare Time: I’ve spent way too many years working on a novel. I’m always writing something. I’m a lifelong Detroit sports fan, so that’s usually on in the background. I’m also a huge fan of the podcast Totalus Rankium, both the Roman Emperors and American Presidents series.
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Sara Alpay
Position: Researcher and Writer
Proudest Accomplishment: Definitely it’s been raising my son––he’s 17-and-a half and originally from Kazakhstan. He had a challenging start, but he’s developed into a wonderful young person. I’m very proud of him (and me).
Favorite Quotation: I actually have two favorite quotes. I was an extremely shy and timid child, so this quote by Andrew Gide is particularly meaningful: “You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.”
My other favorite quote is by Rumi: “You are not a drop in the ocean; you are the ocean in a single drop.” A friend painted a picture of the ocean for my birthday and wrote this at the top. I’ve always found it inspiring.How I Spend My Spare Time: I read, swim, and spend a lot of time outside walking in the woods behind my house. I love languages and am currently studying Italian.
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Mara Cherkasky
Position: Researcher and Writer
Favorite Project at PhotoAssist: Day of the Dead is a favorite holiday of mine, although not one I grew up with, so I was excited to work on a set of stamps celebrating it. The artwork is beautiful, and it was fun to chat with the artist, especially after he told me he’d collected stamps as a kid and had always wanted to design one. I also enjoyed learning about the holiday’s origins and about its growing popularity.
Proudest Accomplishment: I’m a part-timer with PhotoAssist and otherwise work as a historian. In early 2014 a couple of colleagues and I founded a digital public history project called Mapping Segregation in Washington, D.C. and have been working on it ever since. We had no idea how important a resource it would turn out to be, and we often receive requests for interviews and public presentations. The project is my proudest accomplishment.
Favorite Quotation: I can’t help but love this quote from James Baldwin:
“The great force of history comes from the fact that we carry it within us, are unconsciously controlled by it in many ways, and history is literally present in all that we do.”How I Spend My Spare Time: It’s hard to say no to an interesting project, so I don’t have a lot of spare time. However, I do make time for music. I play the accordion and try to experience as many live performances as possible. I also love to look at art and visit museums of all kinds. Washington has lots to offer.
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Erin Pederson
Position: Legal Coordinator
Favorite Project at PhotoAssist: In the early 2000s, during my first stint at PhotoAssist, I worked on an online psychology tutorial for Worth Publishers. Up until then, I had only worked on licensing projects for print media so this presented new challenges. The content touched on so many interesting subjects and the project team was great.
Proudest Accomplishment: Probably attending and completing law school as a full-time employee/part-time student (and training for and running a few marathons during those years).
Favorite Quotation: “And this too shall pass.” I believe that it is a Biblical verse, but my grandmother repeated it often and I find it meaningful in every stage of my role as a parent of four children.
How I Spend My Spare Time: With my family and our dog near the water, on the water, or in the water, and managing our busy household.
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Mike Owens
Our beloved colleague Mike Owens died on July 12, 2023. He filled our lives with joy and wonder. We are better for having known him, and profoundly saddened by his loss.
Founded in 1989 by husband-and-wife team Louis Plummer and Sidney Brown, PhotoAssist was born in response to a simple question from the U.S. Postal Service: “What do you know about Bill Pickett?”
Starting with a single photograph, we learned everything there was to know about this famous bulldogger and rodeo performer, helping the Postal Service correct a major error in the historical record—and soon becoming one of the most trusted photo research houses in the United States.
Since then, we’ve worked with experts in hundreds of fields to help international publishers, major museums, film companies, and government agencies produce work that’s accurate, well documented, and visually rich. We still love when someone asks: “What do you know and how do you know it?”