[Unfortunately, Waterbury Republican American didn't put this on the web, but this is the text of the article.]
WATERBURY - Donna Albino, a Wolcott native and Mount Holyoke College alumna, came across an old postcard of her alma mater in 1985 in a basket near the cash register of an antique store, and her interest was grabbed.
It was one that a student had sent to a relative or friend, and Albino was curious to know who the student was and what she had done while she visited the college.
For five years, it was her only vintage postcard of Mount Holyoke. Then she attended a flea market, and found a dealer who had 28 Mount Holyoke College postcards, all different from the one she already owned. She bought them, and the dealer gave her some contacts.
From there, she started collecting Mount Holyoke postcards - lots of them.
She especially liked the ones that had been inscribed and sent, and did research at the school's archives to find out who the student authors were - and was often able to also determine the addressees of the postcards. In 1996, with her collection approaching 1,100, Albino began putting the postcards on the Internet, beginning with 100 of them. As her Web site grew, she said she realized it might be difficult for people to search through all the cards online, and so began putting a book together.
"Postcard History Series: Mount Holyoke College," published by Arcadia, is a collection of 215 postcards from throughout the 20th century that chronicle both college life and the changing face of the college.
Albino will be signing copies of her book on Wednesday at John Bale Books on Bank Street in Waterbury, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.
She will also be speaking about postcard collecting in general, covering such topics as dating unused postcards, detecting valuable cards and how to find postcard dealers and shows in New England.
For more information about her collection or her book, visit Albino's Website at www.mtholyoke.edu/~dalbino or e-mail her at dalbino@mtholyoke.edu.