Opportunity and Discrimination: The US Postal Service

 Establishing the Postal Service

In 1775 the Post Office Department was established with the appointment of the  first Postmaster General. Legislation incrementally expanded the  Postal Service duties and by 1800 the department oversaw nearly 21,000 miles of postal routes. In 1880, Postal headquarters were relocated from Philadelphia, along with the seat of the US government to Washington, D.C. The Civil Service Examination was introduced in 1883 to counter the nepotism and corruption within federal hiring practices. Initially the exam covered 10% of federal positions, this increased to 60% in the 1900s, and to 90% by the 1950s. 

African American Experiences

Between 1900 to 1930, the number of employment opportunities grew and the civil examination became competitive. The era of growth included opportunities for African American postal workers,  but was also characterized by discrimination, and  sometimes terror. Post office appointments provided African Americans with financial independence and the status- which brushed against the times social structures. A campaign of racial terror against African American postal clerks operated between 1890 and 1910. In 1914, then newly elected President Woodrow Wilson, purged African Americans from federal employment. “[S]teps were taken by the Wilson Administration to make obtaining a civil service job more difficult. Primary among these was the requirement, begun in 1914, that all candidates for civil service jobs attach a photograph to their application further allowing for discrimination in the hiring process.” Smithsonian National Postal Museum

Further Reading

History of the United States Postal Service." ThoughtCo, Apr. 5, 2023,

Pendleton Civil Service Act

The Historical Marker Database, Frazier Baker, Lake City, SC

Smithsonian National Postal Museum