By Nancy Pope, Historian and Curator Editor’s Note: Benjamin Franklin stands proudly in the Atrium of the National Postal Museum, overlooking what has been named the Franklin Foyer*.
We all know Ben Franklin as a great inventor, a brilliant politician and even a leading author, but did you know that Franklin was also the colonies' Postmaster General? In fact, Ben Franklin understood early on the power of mass communication and used its appeal to revolutionize the postal industry.
On This Day in History, July 26, 1774, Ben Franklin becomes the first Postmaster General of the United States when Congress establishes the federal post office, which Franklin would largely design.
By Nancy Pope, Historian and Curator Editor’s Note: Benjamin Franklin stands proudly in the Atrium of the National Postal Museum, overlooking what has been named the Franklin Foyer*.
We all know Ben Franklin as a great inventor, a brilliant politician and even a leading author, but did you know that Franklin was also the colonies' Postmaster General? In fact, Ben Franklin understood early on the power of mass communication and used its appeal to revolutionize the postal industry.
On This Day in History, July 26, 1774, Ben Franklin becomes the first Postmaster General of the United States when Congress establishes the federal post office, which Franklin would largely design.
