The History of the U.S. Postal Service and Its Crucial Role in 2020

So often misconstrued today as an inert public service, the US Postal Service was in fact central to our nation's founding, functioning in Colonial times as the principal means of communication, as well as the conduit for the diffusion of printed matter of all types. For these reasons, control of colonial mail service was the subject of intense politically steeped maneuverings directly paralleling current issues on the eve of the 2020 presidential election.

In a discussion seeking historical perspectives to clarify the situation today, Redwood Executive Director Benedict Leca will discuss the history of the US Postal Service with Dr. Joseph Adelman.

Joseph Adelman is an Associate Professor in the History Department at Framingham State University in Framingham, Massachusetts. A historian of media, communication, and politics in the Atlantic world, he recently published his first book, Revolutionary Networks: The Business and Politics of Printing the News, 1763-1789, published by the Johns Hopkins University Press. He is now at work on a history of the Post Office in America.

Adelman earned his bachelor’s degree in history from Harvard University and a master’s and Ph.D. in history from Johns Hopkins University.