Today’s Good News: BHM100*: Mary Fields aka “Stagecoach Mary” – 1st Black Woman Contracted to Deliver the U.S. Mail | An Encouraging Development

Today’s Good News: BHM100*: Mary Fields aka “Stagecoach Mary” – 1st Black Woman Contracted to Deliver the U.S. Mail | An Encouraging Development

Why this story matters: Positive change rarely happens overnight, but stories like this show it is happening nonetheless. Quick summary: This story highlights recent developments related to us postal service, showing how constructive action can lead to meaningful results. Nicknames in the Old West had to be earned, not given. “Stagecoach Mary” was no exception. In 1895, “Stagecoach Mary” Fields became the first Black woman contracted by the postal service to deliver the U.S. mail. With her guns and tough demeanor, Fields unfailingly protected her stagecoach and her mail route from wolves and bandits alike. Born enslaved in Tennessee in the early 1830s, once Fields was emancipated at the the end of the Civil War, she traveled around working odd jobs until she eventually made her way to a convent in Toledo, Ohio, working as a groundskeeper and game hunter, and eventually moved to Cascade, Montana and did the same at a different convent. Would you like to read more good news about Us Postal …