Minnie Cox's Post Office Standoff

The first Black postmaster in Mississippi was a woman named Minnie M. Cox, who was appointed to run Indianola's post office in 1891. Despite her strong record, local white residents organized a campaign against her, and threats of physical harm forced her to submit a resignation effective January 1, 1903. President Theodore Roosevelt refused to let the town remove her solely because of her race, closed the post office the following day, and rerouted its mail while Cox continued receiving her $1,100 annual salary. The office remained closed for more than a year and reopened only after Cox's term expired in 1904.

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