Stagecoach Mary: Frontier Mail Carrier Legend

Stagecoach Mary: Frontier Mail Carrier Legend

Author: King Kurus, Griot of Black & African History July 10, 2019 Duration: 2:29
Black History Buff: Uncovering Untold Stories
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Show Notes: 

To tide you over while Im researching and writing longer episodes I've created a new segment called Black History blitz. Short, bite sized and fun, like any good snack its best when shared with friends, so tell your friends about it. 

Today's Black history Blitz is about the hard-drinking, shotgun carrying wild west legend known as Stagecoach Mary. The first African American Woman to Join the US mail.

Mary Fields, later to be known as Stage Coach Mary was born in Hickman County Tennessee at around 1832 

Liberated from enslavement at the end of the American Civil war, Fields headed North working on Riverboats till she eventually found permanent work in an Ohio convent.

Her gruff style and constant cursing raised eyebrows in the quiet convent, and though she faithfully served the nuns, news of her habitual drinking, smoking, shooting guns and wearing men’s clothing. Caused upheaval. 

Things came to a head when Fields and the convent’s male janitor drew guns on each other during a heated argument, it was the final straw and she was fired.

Fields love of hard drinking and gunfights eventually paid off when in 1895 she won a contract from the postal service to become a Star route carrier making her the first African American woman to do so

Cathy Williams, we salute you! 

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The Black History Buff Podcast, hosted by King Kurus, is your gateway to the untold stories of Black history. From African Samurai and pistol-wielding poets to revolutionaries like Fred Hampton and Angela Davis, each episode dives deep into the rich and thrilling history of the *African Diaspora*. We go beyond the textbooks, covering everything from the ancient kingdoms of *African History* to the American *Civil Rights movement* and the trailblazers of *Black British history*. More than just a podcast, this show is a bridge connecting Black communities to the past, offering powerful stories that enlighten, empower, and inspire.
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