October 5, 2019 FRANKLINVILLE, NY — A World War I-era postal uniform worn by the first female mail carrier in the U.S. was on display Thursday at the Ischua Valley Historical Society meeting.
Standing next to the restored postal uniform of Jessie McCaa, the first female mail carrier in the U.S., are (from left), Tommie Mapes, who restored the uniform, and Charlie Lambert and Terri Werwinski, descendants of McCaa, who worked as a mail carrier in Franklinville beginning in World War I
The uniform of Jessie McCaa, a Franklinville resident who was the country’s first woman mail carrier, was put on display for the first time since it was donated to the historical society by family members.
“During World War I Jessie was permitted to deliver mail in Franklinville because so many men were serving in the war,” said Maggie Fredrickson of the Ischua Valley Historical Society. “However, afterwards, she was demoted due to being a woman since only men were to be mail carriers.”
There was an outcry from the community that reached Washington, where an Act of Congress restored McCaa’s position.
“She continued to work until 1932, but she had to provide her own uniform at her own expense, unlike the men who were mail carriers,” Fredrickson said.