U.S. Post Stage Driver, 1789-1836

Stagecoaches were one of the earliest forms of transcontinental mail delivery, and their registered mail sacks held gold shipments, bank transfers, and cash in addition to regular mail. The considerable value of their freight made stage drivers targets for ambushes and robberies. Sidney Waugh’s U.S. Post Stage Driver (1789-1836) stands erect, gazes steadily forward, and holds a coiled whip at the ready.  Waugh’s figure captures the determination of a driver who had to control the horses, protect his cargo, and ensure the safe delivery of the mail. Stagecoaches served as the primary vehicle for mail transportation from the founding of the U.S. Postal Service in 1775 until the early nineteenth century when they were slowly replaced by steamship and railway delivery.

Sidney Waugh completed a degree in architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1923 and then traveled to Rome to attend the Scuola delle Belle Arte. In 1929 he received the Prix de Rome scholarship to study at the American Academy in Rome. Waugh served as a Monuments Man during World War II, protecting art and cultural heritage sites in North Africa and Italy from destruction or theft by the Nazis. Later, he worked for the American Battle Monuments Commission and created sculptures for the Florence American Cemetery in Florence, Italy, where 4,399 American soldiers were buried during World War II.