United States. Post Office Department (1792-1971)

Organization

Found in 1 Collection or Record:

Item

Identifier: 2000.6.178

Overview

Floors: Care and Maintenance, guide by the Post Office Department, U.S. Government Printing Office.

Dates: 1969

Found in: Georgia O'Keeffe Museum / Papers from the Ghost Ranch Library / Subject Files / Houses

United States Postal Service (1971) (Earlier Form of Related)

Description

The United States Post Office Department was the predecessor of the United States Postal Service, in the form of a Cabinet department officially from 1872 to 1971. On March 18, 1970, postal workers in New York City—upset over low wages and poor working conditions, and emboldened by the Civil Rights Movement—organized a strike against the United States government. The strike ultimately allowed for postal worker unions and the government to negotiate a contract which gave the unions most of what they wanted, as well as the signing of the Postal Reorganization Act by President Richard Nixon on August 12, 1970. The Act replaced the cabinet-level Post Office Department with a new federal agency, the United States Postal Service, and took effect on July 1, 1971.