[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 20]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 28759]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          HONORING MINNIE COX

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 30, 2007

  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce 
legislation designating the United States Post Office located at 100 W. 
Percy Street in Indianola, MS, as the ``Minnie Cox United States Post 
Office''.
  Minnie M. Geddings Cox, a graduate of Fisk University, was appointed 
postmistress of Indianola, MS, in 1891, by President Benjamin Harrison, 
and was reappointed by President William McKinley; thereby, becoming 
the first Black postmistress of the United States.
  On January 25, 1900, President McKinley raised the rank of the 
Indianola Post Office from fourth class to third class and appointed 
Mrs. Cox for a full 4-year term. However, in the fall of 1902, under 
the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, a controversy brought national 
attention to Mrs. Cox. Jim Crow laws overran Reconstruction in America 
and whites wanted blacks eliminated from leadership positions. Some of 
the local whites in Indianola met and drew up a petition requesting 
Cox's resignation. Increased tension and threats of physical harm 
caused Cox to submit her resignation to take effect January 1, 1903, 
and leave Indianola.
  President Roosevelt believed Mrs. Cox had been wronged, and that the 
authority of the Federal Government was being compromised and refused 
to accept her resignation. Instead, he closed Indianola's post office 
on January 2, 1903, rerouted the mail to Greenville, MS, 30 miles away 
and Cox continued to receive her salary. For 4 hours in January 1903, 
the Indianola postal event was debated on the floor of the United 
States Senate, and appeared on the front pages of newspapers across the 
country. One year later, at the expiration of Mrs. Cox's term, in 
February 1904, the post office was reopened, but demoted in rank from 
third class to fourth class.
  Minnie Cox and her husband Wayne W. Cox, who had been an employee in 
the railway mail service, returned to Indianola and organized the 
``Delta Penny Savings Bank.'' They had been substantial property owners 
before 1903, and they bought more land and became successful bankers as 
well. Minnie Cox died in 1933.

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