Benjamin Franklin, Former Postmaster General

The first U.S. Postmaster General, Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) was appointed by the Continental Congress to oversee the fledgling U.S. postal system in 1775. Predating the official foundation of the nation, Franklin’s postal service primarily carried communications between Congress and the armies. Prior to his appointment as U.S. Postmaster General, Franklin served as Postmaster of Philadelphia for the British Crown Post. Newspaper publishers often served as postmasters, which aided them in gathering and distributing news. During his tenure, Franklin oversaw many innovations in mail delivery, including the implementation of a weekly mail wagon, which cut the delivery time between Philadelphia and New York in half. He also introduced the first rate-chart, to standardize mail costs based on distance and weight, and implemented relay teams, allowing riders to travel around the clock.



Russian-American sculptor Gleb W. Derujinsky was born to aristocratic parents in Smolensk, Russia, in 1888. A student of Rodin, Derujinsky studied at the Académie Julian in Paris and the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. After the Russian Revolution, he departed Crimea as a sailor on a ship bound for America. Derujinsky arrived in the U.S. in 1919, and soon established himself as a prominent sculptor in New York. Among his best known works are portrait busts of presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy.