List of postmasters of Chicago explained

A a post office was first established in Chicago on March 8, 1831, with Johnathan N. Baily, a fur trader, being appointed Chicago's first postmaster.^{[1] [2]}

Chicago was long the hub of the Railway Mail Service of the United States. Chicago saw particularly large volumes of mail in the peak era of mail-order business by Chicago-based retailers Montgomery Ward and Sears.^[1]

Postmasters appointed before 1971

Until the establishment of the United States Postal Service in 1971, the president of the United States appointed local postmasters.

In the 19th century, many appointees of postal positions in the United States were patronage positions, with newspaper editors with close ties to the president's party often receiving postmastership positions.^[1]

Name		Tenure	President appointed by	Notes	Citation(s)
	Johnathan N. Baily	March 31, 1831–Nov. 2, 1832	Andrew Jackson (Democrat)	First postmaster
	John S.C. Hogan	Nov. 2, 1832–1837
	Sidney Abell	Mar. 3, 1837–1841	Martin Van Buren (Democrat)
	William Stuart	Jul. 10 1841–1845	John Tyler (Whig)
	Hart L. Stuart	Apr. 25, 1845–1849	James K. Polk (Democrat)
		Apr. 23, 1849–1850	Zachary Taylor (Whig)
		Sep. 25, 1850–1853	Millard Filmore (Whig)
		Mar. 22, 1853–1857	Franklin Pierce (Democrat)
	William Price	Mar. 18, 1857–1858	James Buchanan (Democratic)
		Mar. 9, 1858–1861
		March 28, 1861–Mar. 9, 1865	Abraham Lincoln (Republican)
		Mar. 9, 1865–1866	Abraham Lincoln (Republican)
	Robert A. Gilmore	Nov. 16, 1866–1867	Andrew Johnson (Democrat)
		Aug. 27, 1867–1869
	Francis A. Eastman	Apr. 5, 1869–1873	Ulysses S. Grant (Republican)
		Dec. 20, 1873–1877
		Feb. 26, 1877–1885	Rutherford B. Hayes (Republican)
		May 5, 1885–1888	Grover Cleveland (Democrat)
		Nov. 19, 1888–1889
		Apr. 16, 1889–1893	Benjamin Harrison (Republican)
		Nov. 25, 1893–1897	Grover Cleveland (Democrat)
		Mar. 19, 1897–1901	William McKinley (Republican)
	Frederick E. Coyne	Mar. 19, 1901–1905
		Dec. 16, 1905–1907	Theodore Roosevelt (Republican)
		Apr. 6, 1907–1917
	William B. Carlile	Mar. 16, 1917–1921	Woodrow Wilson (Democrat)
		Aug. 24, 1921–1923 and 1923–1933	Warren G. Harding (Republican)	Resigned in 1923 to unsuccessfully run for mayor of Chicago in that year's election as a Republican. Reappointed postmaster after losing the election.	^[3]
	Ernest J. Kruetgen	Aug. 31, 1933–1948	Franklin D. Roosevelt (Democrat)
	John Haderlein	Aug. 31, 1949–1952	Harry S. Truman (Democrat)
	Vincent F. Werner (acting postmaster)	Aug. 31, 1952–Jul. 6, 1953
	Carl A. Shroeder	Jul. 6, 1953–1961	Dwight D. Eisenhower (Republican)
	Ralph G. Donegan	Sep. 15, 1961–Nov. 2, 1961			^[4]
		November 2, 1861–Mar. 1966	John F. Kennedy (Democrat)		^[5] ^[6]
	William Boschelli (acting postmaster)	Mar. 18, 1966–Sep. 1966	Lyndon B. Johnson (Democrat)
		Nov. 5, 1966 and 1966–Mar. 1972		First African American to hold the position

Postmasters appointed after 1971

Name	Tenure	Notes	Citation(s)
	June 2, 1973–April 28, 1977	Left post after being assigned regional postmaster general for the Eastern Region	^[7] ^[8]
Frank C. Goldie	Jul 16, 1977–1987		^[9]
Janet Norfleet	April 4, 1987–December 1990	First female postmaster of Chicago	^[10]
Norman L. Miller	Jan. 26, 1991–Jan. 1992
Ormer Rogers Jr.	Apr. 18, 1992–Jan. 1993
Jimmie Mason	Jan. 9, 1993–Jul. 1994
Rufus Porter	Jul. 16, 1994–Apr. 2001
Earl D. Flowers	Apr. 7, 2001–Aug. 2002
Eric D. Chavez	Aug. 10, 2002–Aug. 2004
Kelvin Mack	Aug. 7, 2004–Sep. 2006
Gloria E. Tyson	May 26, 2009–Mar. 3, 2011		^[11]
Anthony B. Vaughan	Nov. 16, 2013–2016
Tangela L. Bush	Oct. 29, 2016–Jan. 2018
Wanda Prater	Sep. 1, 2018–June 12, 2021	Was "officer in charge" prior to becoming postmaster	^[12] ^[13]

Officers in charge

The following individuals served as "officer in charge of the Chicago Post Office" during periods in which there was a vacancy in the position of postmaster of Chicago:

Name	Tenure	Notes	Citation(s)
Wanda Prater	Jan. 20, 2018–Sep. 1, 2018	Became postmaster
William G. Booras	1972–1973		^[14] ^[15]
William G. Booras	Apr. 18, 1972–Jun. 2, 1973
Charles K. Kernan	Apr. 27 1977–Jul. 16, 1977
Forest D. Anderson	Jan. 30, 1987–Apr. 4, 1987
Ormer Rogers Jr.	Nov. 30, 1990–Jan. 26, 1991
Dean Buchanan	Jan. 3, 1992–Apr. 18, 1992
Kelvin Mack	May. 1, 2004–Aug. 7, 2006
Gloria E. Tyson	Sep. 30, 2006–May 26, 2009		^[16]
Nancy Rettinhouse	Feb. 26, 2011–May 31, 2011
Eddie Morgan	June 2021–Jan. 2022		^[17] ^[18]
Loretta Wilkins	May 9, 2023–present		^[19]

See also

• Old Chicago Main Post Office

Notes and References

1. Web site: Mail Delivery . www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org . John . Richard R. . Chicago Historical Society . 12 March 2023 . 2005.
2. Web site: Currey . J. Seymour . Chicago's First Post Office . chicagology.com (originally published in Fort Dearborn Magazine in December 1922) . 12 March 2023 . March 27, 2003.
3. Web site: The Political Graveyard: Mayors and Postmasters of Chicago, Illinois . Political Graveyard . 13 March 2023.
4. Web site: 3 Postal Jobs in Region Go to Democrat . Newspapers.com . Chicago Tribune . 13 March 2023 . subscription . en . July 20, 1961.
5. Web site: Take Oath . subscription . Newspapers.com . Suburbanite Economist . 13 March 2023 . en . November 1, 1961.
6. Web site: Senate OK's Sermon for Postmaster . Newspapers.com . Chicago Tribune . 13 March 2023 . en . October 6, 1962.
7. Web site: Postal pioneers . link.usps.com . United States Postal Service News . 13 March 2023 . January 30, 2018.
8. Web site: Select New Postmaster . subscription . Newspapers.com . The Daily Calumet . 13 March 2023 . en . July 25, 1977.
9. Web site: Martin . Alison . This week in history: Chicago's Latino community stages sit-in over mail issues . Chicago Sun-Times . 13 March 2023 . en . 19 May 2022.
10. Web site: Thornton . Jerry . Happiness is mail lover in top job . subscription . Newspapers.com . Chicago Tribune . 13 March 2023 . March 24, 1987.
11. Web site: Chicago Postmaster Gloria Tyson Announces Retirement . about.usps.com . United States Postal Service . 13 March 2023 . February 24, 2011.
12. Web site: Yin . Alice . Chicago USPS postmaster replaced following mounting calls for her resignation over mail delays . Chicago Tribune . 13 March 2023 . June 16, 2021.
13. Web site: Chicago Post Office delivers important message about dog bites . about.usps.com . United States Postal Service . 13 March 2023 . April 6, 2018.
14. Web site: Need Some Cuff Links? Try Local Post Office . subscription . Newspapers.com . Chicago Tribune . 13 March 2023 . en . June 15, 1972.
15. Web site: New Chicago postmaster assumes duties . subscription . Newspapers.com . Chicago Tribune . 13 March 2023 . en . June 2, 1973.
16. Web site: Chicago Postmaster Gloria Tyson Announces Retirement . about.usps.com . United States Postal Service . 13 March 2023 . February 24, 2011.
17. Web site: Anthony . Katie . More turnover in Chicago USPS as postmaster leaves job after just 7 months . Chicago Sun-Times . 13 March 2023 . en . 15 January 2022.
18. Web site: Acting Chicago Postmaster Eddie Morgan Jr. Out After Only 7 Months . Postal Times . 13 March 2023 . 17 January 2022.
19. Web site: Postmasters by City - Postmaster Finder - Who we are - About.usps.com . about.usps.com . 4 April 2024.