There has been a lot of discussion recently about the local post office. People have mentioned that they have been told there is a backlog of mail and packages to be delivered, and that the postal employees have been asked to work on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to try to catch up.
Here is a story about the Morgan Park post office and Christmastime from more than one hundred years ago.
David Herriott is usually mentioned on this page in reference to his role as the publisher/editor of the Morgan Park Post newspaper. But his “real” job was as Postmaster.
Herriott beat out twenty-two other candidates to be named Postmaster of the Village of Morgan Park in 1899 by President William McKinley. He held that position until 1914, when Morgan Park was annexed to Chicago. He was then appointed as Superintendent of the Auburn Park station near 79th Street and Halsted Street. In 1929, he was named Superintendent of the South Chicago station at 92nd Street and Exchange Avenue on the southeast side of the city, from where he retired in 1933.
Herriott was well-liked and respected in his Postmaster role. When appointed to Auburn, the local paper wrote that he was “one of the best informed men in the service as well as the most amiable and genial.” The paper considered it “a distinct advantage” to have Herriott as the new superintendent.
At another time, a columnist mentioned Herriott’s “good character” and that he was “a rattling good fellow.”
An editorial in a 1923 “The Union Postal Clerk” magazine of the union representing postal clerks referred to Herriott as “very wise” for his advice to fellow supervisors.
Herriott was a Progressive and supported fair labor practices. At the time he was working for the U.S. postal service, the stations were open on Christmas Day. Herriott wanted to give the employees that day off. So while at Morgan Park, he came up with the idea to have the postal station open but just not staffed on Christmas Day.
He had all the mail and packages sorted by address and laid out on tables by street name. He invited the residents of Morgan Park to come into the station and pick up their own mail if they did not want to wait until December 26 to have it delivered. The residents cooperated with the plan and it worked very well.
In the 1920s, Herriott was the editor of “The Postal Supervisor” magazine for several years. This monthly magazine was the official publication of the National Association of Postal Supervisors, out of Washington, D.C.
Herriott advocated for two changes for the employees: half-days on Saturdays and Christmas as a holiday. The Postmaster General was hesitant, but the eloquent and persuasive Herriott convinced him to give it a try for one year. It has continued ever since.
A newspaper editorial noted that when Herriott addressed an issue, “what he has to say will be important and to the point…. And his words will be phrased with a charm and quaintness that never fail to get attention.”
He certainly used that charm to help postal workers.
David Herriott died in 1960 at the age of 97.