JUDY KAPLAN STAMPS OF APPROVAL Contact Judy Kaplan: jkaplan@apii.com Judith Kaplan of Altamonte Springs, FL was honored as one of the "Feminists Who Changed America 1963-1975". Published by University of Illinois Press, this new and groundbreaking Judith Kaplan discusses the progress of feminism with Betty Freidan at the 10th anniversary of the New York Chapter of the National Organization for Women of which Freidan is the founder. Freidan wrote "The Femine Mystique" which changed the concept for women overnight. directory was released on November 13, 2006. It presents biographies of more than 2,200 women and men whose successful actions created the modern women's movement, "the first social Judith Kaplan shows Liz Holtzman, member of Congress, the Women's History Series. Judith is the originator and cachet director of this unique series. revolution in history to glorify not 2, not 20 but 2,200 of the leaders" noted Muriel Fox, who was at the forefront of this revolutionary era of American history from its very beginning and continues working to expand the rights and improve the lives of girls and women, and, thereby, of boys and men as well. Judith Kaplan, a graduate of Hunter College, New York, N.Y. and The Bronx High School of Science, Bronx, N.Y., and currently a nationally recognized Orlando-based artist showing at COMMA Gallery in Orlando, is former Chair of Action Products International Inc, an Orlando-based NASDAQ listed toy manufacturer specializing in non-violent, educational toys. A resident of Florida since 1980, Ms. Kaplan was formally a resident of Ocala and Boca Raton. She now resides in Orlando. Under her leadership, the Kaplan family made a major contribution to the building of a civic building on the campus of Central Florida Community College. She currently is funding a Chair in Women's History at the college. Ms. Kaplan's contributions to the feminist revolution were mainly focused on the importance of researching and documenting women's history and insuring that the knowledge of women's contributions and achievements are included in the education of future generations. She is the creator and producer of the women's history collectible series "The Women's History Series of First Day Covers by N.O.W.- N.Y.," which helped induce the U.S. Postal Service to recognize and honor the contributions and achievements of Women to the History of the United States by having them commemorated on U.S. postage stamps. Discussion of her women's history work is included in "Feminists Who Changed America 1963-1975" as a part of documenting her feminist achievements. Judith Kaplan is Secretary and a director of the National Women's History Museum to be located in Washington D.C. Ms. Kaplan owns one of the world's largest private collections of American women's history. Judith Kaplan showing the Women's History Series to Eleanor Holmes Norton, chair-designate of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. On the right of the picture is Gloria Steinem, publisher of MS Magizine. Both Norton and Steinem collect the Women's History Series as do Liz Holtzman and Betty Freidan. In the mid 1960's Judy and her husband Warren formed a part time first day cover business "TIPEX", named after the souvenir sheet of which they had accumulated a very large inventory. They dealt mainly in the classics, early cachet makers, and hand painted cachets. Judy and Warren operated TIPEX full time from 1974 to 1980 and it became the largest retailer in the world specializing in U.S. FDC's. TIPEX was closed in 1980 when they moved to Florida.Judy was a feminist from as far back as she could remember. She was also an early member of the founding chapter of the National Organization for Women, NOW-NY, and served as its treasurer. It was at this time she decided to do a series of covers on women's history for the organization. In 1976, Judith Kaplan contracted Mike Burke who was making his own first day covers under the name America Covers. For the first cover she had approximately 1,000-printed offset in red on white stock. The next 12 were in various colors of print and envelope colors. Thus began the Women's History Series of First Day Covers. Judy's main goals were to promote knowledge of the achievements of Women, to lobby the U.S. Postal System to issue more stamps commemorating women's contributions, and to raise money for the New York Chapter of the National Organization for Women. (NOW-NY) The idea for the series grew out of her interest in and collection of women's history. She originally intended the project to be a team effort, but as with many volunteer efforts, the person with the most interest (Judy) did it all. Judy Kaplan FDCs A First Day Cover (FDC) is an envelope or card bearing a stamp that is cancelled on the day the stamp is initially placed on sale by postal authorities. The NOW-NY series began with the August 18, 1976, issue of 1699 Clara Maas. For the next five years, Judy designed, researched, picked the subjects, and did the write-ups for more then 170 different limited edition FDC's. Judy notes: "So little of the history for these women was known and locating photos of these women was even more difficult then the research. There is currently much more women's history available then when my research was being started, but much still remains to be researched and written about." Many of the NOW-NY fdc subjects were later made subjects of U.S. stamps, making the Women's History Series first day covers "forerunners" of the U.S. stamps. They include Edna St. Vincent Millay, Emily Bissell, Babe Didriksen, Molly Pitcher, Helen Keller, and Rachael Carson, among others. For More on Judy Kaplan's FDCs Please Visit The Knottywood Website at: http://www.knottywood-treasures.com/id67.html