[On July 26, 1775, the Second Continental Congress established the United States postal system. So this week for the 250th anniversary I’ve AmericanStudied that moment and other histories and stories of the USPS, leading up to this weekend tribute to these vital federal workers!]
Back in
March, around the
90th anniversary of President Roosevelt’s Executive Order
creating the Works Progress Administration (WPA), I focused a Saturday
Evening Post Considering History column
on the many federal workers whom that program created and supported, and most
especially on their enduring legacies for all Americans. That moment
represented one of the biggest amplifications of the federal workforce in our
history, while the U.S. Postal Service is very much the opposite: a community
of dedicated federal workers that has endured for 250 years, doing its work in
every moment, no matter what else has been unfolding (forget rain or hail or
snow, I’m talking depressions
and wars
and natural
disasters). And, even more impressively and importantly still, doing so for
every corner of this ginormous country, from the heart of our most crowded
cities to the quietest roads in our most rural spaces. Hell, for a long time Alaskan
mail carriers used sled dogs to deliver the mail! The recent spate of
attacks on federal workers, led by the Trump administration and its DOGE
extremists, has reflected just how fully and frustratingly we take that
community of workers’ efforts and legacies for granted, and I don’t think that’s
anywhere more obvious than with postal workers. May we better remember and
appreciate this longstanding, enduring, and crucial community of workers!
Next
series starts Monday,
Ben
PS. What
do you think? Postal histories or stories you’d share?
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