Brief Histories of U.S. Government Agencies Volume Three by Michael Erbschloe - HTML preview

United States Postal Service

A self-supporting, independent federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation: 155 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

With more than 31,600 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual revenue of nearly $69 billion and delivers 47 percent of the world’s mail. With more than half a million employees, the Postal Service is one of the nation’s largest employers. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 43rd in the 2015 Fortune 500 and 137th in the 2015 Global Fortune 500 list. The Postal Service has one of the world’s largest computer networks — linking nearly 32,000 facilities and making communication possible between hundreds of thousands of employees, as well as our customers.

The Postal Service mission is to provide a reliable, efficient, trusted and affordable universal delivery service that connects people and helps businesses grow. Everyone living in the United States and its territories has access to postal products and services and pays the same for a First-Class postage stamp regardless of their location.

The Postal Service has established a core set of enduring goals that guide all of its strategic initiatives and continuous improvement efforts:

• Deliver High-Quality Services
• Provide Excellent Customer Experiences
• Ensure a Safe Workplace and an Engaged Workforce

The Postal Service puts information and technology at the center of its business strategies. It’s finding ways to harness analytics and insights and information to empower employees and customers. It’s also speeding the pace of innovation, and developing mobile and digital tools to play a larger role in the daily digital lives of customers. The Postal Service is already a technology-centric organization. It uses the world’s most advanced tracking and information systems to speed the flow of mail and packages throughout its network, creating literally billions of data points every day. The Postal Service is leveraging the information derived from that robust scanning and tracking to add value to the senders and receivers of mail and packages — and to create new products and services to spur growth in the mailing industry.

The U.S. Postal Service continues to play an indispensable role as a driver of commerce and as a provider of delivery services that connects Americans to one another — reliably, affordably and securely, and to every residential and business address.

Major Events

1775 - Benjamin Franklin appointed first Postmaster General by the Continental Congress

1847 - U.S. postage stamps issued

1855 - Prepayment of postage required

1860 - Pony Express began

1863 - Free city delivery began

1873 - U.S. postal cards issued

1874 - General Postal Union (now Universal Postal Union) established

1893 - First commemorative stamps issued

1896 - Rural free delivery began

1913 - Parcel Post® began

1918 - Scheduled airmail service began

1950 - Residential deliveries reduced to one a day

1957 - Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee established

1963 - ZIP Code inaugurated

1970 - Express Mail® began experimentally

1971 - United States Postal Service® began operations

1971 - Labor contract negotiated through collective bargaining, a federal government "first"

1974 - Self-adhesive stamps tested

1982 - Last year Postal Service™ accepted public service subsidy

1983 - ZIP+4® Code began

1992 - Self-adhesive stamps introduced nationwide

1993 - National Postal Museum opened

1994 - Postal Service launched public Internet site

1998 - U.S. semipostal stamp issued

2006 - Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act signed

2007 - “Forever” stamp issued

2008 - Competitive pricing for expedited mail began

2009 - Free usps.com iPhone app offered

2011 - Every Door Direct Mail® introduced

2012- Gopost® and Metro Post™ tested

Size and Scope

The United States Postal Service delivers more mail to more addresses in a larger geographical area than any other post in the world. The Postal Service delivers to nearly 155 million addresses in every state, city and town in the country. Everyone living in the United States and its territories has access to postal products and services and pays the same for a First-Class postage stamp regardless of their location.

By the Numbers*

• 68.8 billion — 2015 operating revenue
• 154.2 billion — number of pieces processed and delivered
• 47 — percent of the world’s mail volume handled by the Postal Service
• 1.8 billion — dollar amount paid every two weeks in salaries and benefits
• 493,381** — number of career employees
• 131,732** — number of non-career employees
• 31,606 — number of Postal Service-managed retail offices
• 214,933 — number of vehicles — one of the largest civilian fleets in the world
• 37 million — number of address changes processed
• 19.2 billion — total retail revenue
• 919.5 million — total number of retail customer visits
• 45.7 — percent of retail revenue from alternative access channels
• 1.5 billion — total number of visits to usps.com
• 276.8 million — total Postal Store revenue on usps.com
• 53.4 million — number of inquiries handled by the Postal Customer Care Center
• 53.6 million — number of Click-N-Ship labels printed
• 555.3 million — total revenue, in dollars, from Click-N-Ship label purchases
• 93 million — number of money orders issued
• 5.4 million — number of passport applications the Postal Service accepted at post offices
• 462.8 million — amount in revenue from 2,500 postal Self-Service Kiosks, in dollars
• 1.1 million — number of new delivery points added to the network in 2015
• 155 million — total number of delivery points nationwide
• 74 — Megan J. Brennan, 74th Postmaster General
• 0 — tax dollars received for operating the Postal Service

*all information based on Fiscal Year 2015 data, unless otherwise noted

**as of Jan. 13, 2016

Mail is big business

The U.S. Postal Service is the core of the more than $1.4 trillion mailing industry that employs more than 7.5 million people. These types of mail brought in most of the $68.8 billion in operating revenue in 2015:

First-Class Mail — $28.3 billion

Standard Mail — $17.6 billion

Shipping and Package Services — $15.1 billion

Periodicals — $1.6 billion

If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 43rd in the 2015 Fortune 500.

In the 2015 Global Fortune 500 list, the U.S. Postal Service ranked 137th.

*The EMA Mailing Industry Job Study, 2015, reported that there are more than 7.5 million jobs and more than $1.4 trillion in revenue attributed to the mailing industry.

History. Foundation. Art. Preservation.

The Postal Service is very proud of its history — its foundation — and has worked hard to preserve it. Numerous postal buildings are listed with the National Historic Register and many other postal buildings house works of art from the Postal Fine Arts Collection.

• The Postal Service employs a federal preservation officer and a historian.
• The Postal Service houses more than 1,400 murals and/or sculptures from President Roosevelt’s New Deal Programs in its Post Offices around the nation. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of people to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads. The WPA also employed musicians, artists, writers, actors and directors in large arts, drama, media and literacy projects.
• Most of the Post Office works of art were funded through commissions under the Treasury Department’s Section of Painting and Sculpture and Section of Fine Arts (later known simply as “the Section”) and not the WPA. For additional information, go to wpamurals.com/history.html.
• As of December 2015, approximately 1,500 Postal-owned buildings are listed on the National Historic Register. For additional information, go to www.nps.gov/nr/research/
• The Smithsonian Institution’s National Postal Museum, located in Washington, DC, is dedicated to the preservation, study and presentation of postal history and philately. The museum uses exhibits, educational programs and research to make this rich history available to scholars, philatelists, collectors and visitors from around the world. In 2013, the William H. Gross Stamp Gallery — the world’s largest gallery dedicated to philately — opened its doors. The gallery provides an experience available nowhere else and offers something for everyone, from casual visitors to experienced collectors. For more information, go to http://postalmuseum.si.edu/.
• In 2012, a curator at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian examined New Deal-era Postal artwork and initially found over 300 works contained images of American Indians.  A project titled Indians at the post Office: Native Themes in New Deal-Era Murals was created with the goal of providing a contemporary Native-informed critique of each of these.  For additional information go to http://postalmuseum.si.edu/indiansatthepostoffice/index.html

New Deal Art in Post Offices

President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal sponsored several art programs to help get people back to work and restore confidence in a nation facing 25 percent unemployment in 1933.

From 1934 to 1943, the New Deal murals and sculptures seen in Post Offices were produced under the Treasury Department’s Section of Painting and Sculpture, later called the Section of Fine Arts. Unlike the Works Progress Administration/Federal Art Project, with which it often is confused, this program was not directed toward providing economic relief. Instead, the art placed in Post Offices was intended to help boost the morale of people suffering the effects of the Great Depression with art that, in the words of President Roosevelt, was:

native, human, eager and alive — all of it painted by their own kind in their own country, and painted about things they know and look at often and have touched and loved.(1)

Artists competed anonymously in national and regional contests. Runners-up often received commissions for smaller buildings. After receiving a commission, an artist was encouraged to consult with the Postmaster and other townspeople to ensure that the subject would be meaningful.

In 2015, more than 1,000 Post Offices nationwide continued to house this uniquely American art.

Postman in Storm, Independence, Iowa

This oil on canvas mural by Robert Tabor might evoke shivers from visitors to the Independence, Iowa, Post Office at 200 2nd Avenue, Northeast.  The mural was installed in January 1938 and restored in 2000.

Indian Bear Dance, Truth or Consequences, New Mexico

Installed in 1938, this 12-foot long, oil on canvas mural by Boris Deutsch is located in the Geronimo Retail Unit, 300 Main Street, Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, Post Office. 

Winter Landscape, Canton, Missouri

Artist Jessie Hull Mayer painted Winter Landscape in oil and tempera for the Canton, Missouri, Post Office, located at 500 Lewis Street, where it still can be seen.  The mural was installed in 1940, with restoration work done in 1971 and 2005.

Air Mail, Piggott, Arkansas

Air Mail by painter Daniel Rhodes is a nearly 12-foot long work in oil on canvas.  The public still can see this work of art, installed in 1941, when they visit the Piggott, Arkansas, Post Office, located at 116 North 3rd Avenue.

Endnote: 1. Franklin D. Roosevelt, “The Freedom of the Human Spirit Shall Go On,” Address at the Dedication of National Gallery of Art, March 17, 1941. From University of California, American Presidency Project http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=16091 (accessed February 5, 2007).

Postage stamps

Postage stamps are miniature works of art designed to reflect the American experience and highlight heroes, history, milestones, achievements and natural wonders.

• 19 billion U.S. postage stamps were printed in 2015.
• 12 billion postage stamps were sold in 2015 — 77 percent of them in the popular Forever format.
• In 2015, $5.5 million in philatelic products were sold, up 1.65 percent from last year. $65 million was generated by the sales of Souvenir Sheets.
• $618 million in stamps and stamp product orders were received by mail, telephone (1-800-STAMP-24) and online at usps.com/stamps in 2015.
• The first Forever stamp, issued in 2007, was an image of the Liberty Bell.
• Forever stamps can be purchased at the current First-Class Mail postage price — they remain valid for full postage no matter how prices change.
• Semi-postal stamps are First-Class Mail stamps sold by the Postal Service at a price above the cost of a regular stamp. These stamps raise money for causes designated by Congress.
• Four semi-postal stamps have been issued to date: Breast Cancer Research (issued 1998), Heroes of 2001 (issued 2002), Stop Family Violence (issued 2003) and Save Vanishing Species (issued 2011). Breast Cancer Research and Save Vanishing Species are still available for purchase.
• The Breast Cancer Research semi-postal stamp has raised more than $81.8 million for breast cancer research since 1998. To date, more than 998 million stamps have been sold. The stamp is scheduled to remain on sale until December 2019.
• In 1992, the self-stick stamp began to replace the traditional version. By 2005, 98 percent of all stamps were self-stick, though some collectors still prefer the traditional wet-then-stick style.
• The first woman featured on a U.S. postage stamp was Queen Isabella in 1893. The first American woman featured was Martha Washington in 1902.
• The first Hispanic-American featured on a U.S. postage stamp was Admiral David Farragut in 1903.
• The first Native American to be featured on a stamp was Pocahontas in 1907.
• The first African American to be featured on a U.S. postage stamp was Booker T. Washington in 1940.
• The 2015 stamp program featured two joint issuances with other countries. The Gifts of Friendship stamps honor the lasting bond between the US and Japan, while the Ingrid Berman stamp honors an Academy Award-winning actress beloved in both the US and Sweden.
• Postal History was made in 2015 with the first non-denominational stamps issued at rates other than the First-Class Forever rate. Like Forever stamps, they will always be valid.
• The Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum is dedicated to the preservation, study and presentation of postal history and philately. The Museum, located in Washington, DC, was created by an agreement between the Smithsonian Institution and the United States Postal Service in 1990 and opened to the public in 1993.
• In 2013, the William H. Gross Stamp Gallery — the world’s largest gallery dedicated to philately — opened its doors. The gallery provides an experience available nowhere else and offers something for everyone, from casual visitors to experienced collectors. For more information, go to postalmuseum.si.edu.

Little America, Antarctica, Post Office

America’s first Post Office in Antarctica was officially established on October 6, 1933. The Post Office went with Admiral Richard E. Byrd and his crew when they left Norfolk, Virginia, for the Little America base camp, located on the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica.

This expedition was Byrd’s second of five to the Antarctic and the only one to have a Post Office. The Post Office itself was part of a philatelic project supported by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, an avid stamp collector. In a conversation between Admiral Byrd and President Roosevelt, the President mentioned that it would be nice if stamp collectors around the world could have a commemorative cancellation from a United States Post Office set up at the Little America camp in Antarctica during Byrd’s upcoming expedition . . . and it would be nice if there was a special postage stamp for use only on Little America mail. President Roosevelt himself suggested the stamp design, a striking vertical, navy blue and white stamp that featured a large globe showing several Byrd flights, including those proposed for this expedition.

The 3-cent Byrd Antarctic Expedition II commemorative stamp was issued October 9, 1933. It was intended solely for philatelic use on mail sent to Little America. To offset the cost of transportation, which could only be provided by the expedition, a 50-cent surcharge was added to the price of the stamp. The cost did not discourage sales, however, as an estimated 240,000 letters went through the Little America Post Office.

Much of the mail set sail with the expedition in October 1933. Another large batch went by regular steamer to Dunedin, New Zealand, where it caught up with the expedition before it left for Little America. Mail continued to be forwarded to Dunedin until approximately November 1, 1934, the latest date it could reach the relief ship before its departure for Little America.

Dr. John Oliver LaGorce, vice president of the National Geographic Society, was appointed honorary postmaster of the Little America Post Office. Assistant Postmaster Leroy Clarke, a member of the Byrd expedition, was in charge of actual postal operations. As it turned out, the job proved to be too much for Clarke, and the expedition had to turn to the Post Office Department for help.

The Post Office Department sent Charles F. Anderson, a 43-year postal veteran and “traveling mechanician” who specialized in canceling first-day covers. Anderson set off on November 7, 1934, and arrived at Little America the following January, along with an additional 40,000 letters, canceling machines, assorted postmarking stamps, inks, glues, and a large supply of indelible pencils, in case the inks froze. Then, in one continuous stretch from January 19 through February 4, 1935, Anderson canceled most of the covers that had arrived with Clarke a year earlier and all those he had brought as well. Anderson and the mail returned with the expedition in March 1935. The post office was officially discontinued on May 31, 1935.

The Little America Post Office is long gone and communications now reach the Antarctic much faster than by steamship. However, weather still remains a factor in getting mail to and from the crews of scientific expeditions stationed in the Antarctic, for whom the mail is still a very important link to home. For example, on Christmas Eve 2003, a C-130 transport plane carrying cargo and mail was turned back from the United States research facility at McMurdo Station, Antarctica, because of extreme weather. A lot of people were disappointed. The same plane made it back in the wee hours of Christmas Day. The postal-contract employees at the McMurdo contract post office were supposed to have the day off like everyone else, but they went to the post office, sorted 7,000 pounds of letters and packages, and opened up long enough for everyone to collect their mail. As an employee working at McMurdo wrote, “A lot of time when you get any mail here it is like getting a present, and when they opened the Post Office for package and mail pick up on Christmas it really was something special.”

For further information on Antarctic postal history, visit the Antarctic Philatelic Home Page at www.south-pole.com.

A decade of facts and figures

The Postal Service delivers for America. Even in an increasingly digital world, the Postal Service remains part of the bedrock infrastructure of the American economy, serving its people and businesses, and binding the nation together. The core function of the Postal Service is to provide secure, reliable, affordable delivery of mail and packages to every address in America, its territories and military installations worldwide.

 *As of Jan. 13, 2016
**Mail bearing postage stamps — bill payments, personal correspondence, cards and letters, etc.
***Includes Priority Mail, Priority Mail Express, First-Class Packages, Package Services, Parcel Return Service and Parcel Select.
****These figures are included in Alternate Access Revenue

(Link: http://about.usps.com/who-we-are/leadership/about-usps.htm)