The philatelic collections housed in the John Hay Library began in 1933 when Webster Knight (class of 1876) bequeathed his personal collection of United States postage stamps to Brown University Library. The collection contains every U.S. stamp issued from 1847 to the present day, kept in blocks of four or more. Pre-dating the  first United States Post Office issues of the 5¢ Ben Franklin stamp and the 10¢ George Washington stamp, the Knight collection includes locally-issued Providence Provisional stamps of 1846-1847. In 1935, a committee comprised of three members of the Rhode Island Philatelic Society was appointed to manage the collection. This relationship continues today. The Knight Collection is endowed, and the funds enable the Library to acquire every new U.S. stamp issued each year as well as a selection of printing errors.