Post office to be named for black postmaster lynched in 1898

LAKE CITY, S.C. – A South Carolina town’s post office will be named in honour of its first black postmaster, who was lynched in 1898 after he refused to resign.

The Post and Courier reported Tuesday the Lake City post office will be named for Frazier B. Baker. U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn says it ensures Baker’s story won’t be forgotten.

Clyburn introduced a bill to rename the office after Baker. The state’s entire congressional delegation co-sponsored it. President Donald Trump signed it into law last month before the partial government shutdown began.

President William McKinley chose the 42-year-old school teacher as postmaster in 1897. The next year, a white mob burned his house and post office, and fatally shot him and his baby daughter. Baker’s wife and their five other children barely escaped.

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Information from: The Post and Courier, http://www.postandcourier.com