After the ceremony, eager conference participants and avid stamp collectors lined up to purchase the collector's-item, first-issue stamps.

Some reflected on the Marshall Plan, explaining why they felt the conference was important.

"We wanted to attend [the conference] because we believe that the Marshall Plan was an incredible moment in history," said Adele M. Koss, who made a special trip to the conference with her husband.

"I think it's been very interesting as a commemorative exercise, and it's not just a celebration. It includes a critical element--a critique of the Marshall Plan," said John P. Drysdale, a visiting scholar at CES.

One alumnus attending the conference, George L. Campbell '44, said he happened to be at commencement in 1947 and remembers Marshall's speech well.

"We heard [Marshall] speak and then read about it in the paper the next day," Campbell said. "Nobody really appreciated how significant it was at the time."

In his remarks, Hunt noted that the stamp honoring Marshall is the third such stamp issued in recent years to commemorate a Harvard-related figure or moment. The first--a stamp featuring the legendary John Harvard--was issued in 1986 to commemorate the University's 300th anniversary.