The Pitcairn Islands Study Group (PISG) is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2023 while looking forward to serving philatelists interested in the exciting story of Pitcairn Island and the “Mutiny on the Bounty” saga for another half century.
The PISG was founded in 1973 by a group of collectors who wanted to bring together their interest in the story of William Bligh, the mutiny on HMAV Bounty and eventual settlement on Pitcairn, a tiny South Pacific island. A newsletter was started in those early days, and membership grew at a dramatic pace to reach more than 600 readers at one point. The society’s journal was originally called the Pitcairn Islands Study Group Newsletter but was changed to the Pitcairn Log, a name the quarterly journal still holds, in December 1974.
Much of the study group’s emphasis today is on the people – there are only about 50 – who live on Pitcairn Island as well as the stamps and postal history used over the decades. PISG membership is open to anyone. For more information, contact Dr. Vernon N. Kisling, Jr., P.O. Box 1511, High Springs, FL 32655. His email is vkisling@ufl.edu.