The ''Letter Carriers' Monument'' is a piece of

public art Public art is art in any media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and physically acces ...

by American artist Elliot Offner, located on a triangular plot formed by North 2nd Street, North Plankinton Avenue and West Wells Street in downtown

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michi ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

. Created in 1989, the monument depicts three letter carriers and was commissioned in celebration of the centennial of the

National Association of Letter Carriers The National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) is an American labor union, representing non-rural letter carriers employed by the United States Postal Service. It was founded in 1889. The NALC has 2,500 local branches representing letter c ...

(NALC).

Description and history

The

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

depicts three figures representing letter carriers from across NALC's history: A white man with a

mustache A moustache (; en-US, mustache, ) is a strip of facial hair grown above the upper lip. Moustaches have been worn in various styles throughout history. Etymology The word "moustache" is French, and is derived from the Italian ''mustaccio'' ...

wearing a turn of the 20th century uniform (with an inscription on the

jacket A jacket is a garment for the upper body, usually extending below the hips. A jacket typically has sleeves, and fastens in the front or slightly on the side. A jacket is generally lighter, tighter-fitting, and less insulating than a coat, which ...

reading "Offner '89"); an

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of enslav ...

man wearing a 1939 uniform (from the time of NALC's fiftieth anniversary); and a woman in a contemporary uniform. The sculpture is set on a black

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies underg ...

base, with the north and south faces of the base reading: "In honor of the men and women/ who have delivered for America/ in rain, sleet, and snow./ And in tribute to their Union,/ the National Association of Letter Carriers,/ founded across Plankinton Avenue/ from this site on August 30, 1889./ Dedicated August 30, 1989." The monument measures 66 x 67 x 56 inches, and was created in 1989. The sculpture is a tribute to the National Association of Letter Carriers, commissioned to celebrate the centennial of its founding. The group's history began when the

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U. ...

gave employment preference to veterans after the American Civil War. As a result, there were many veterans employed by the Postal Service across the United States. After the Postal Service administration refused to recognize the

eight-hour day The eight-hour day movement (also known as the 40-hour week movement or the short-time movement) was a social movement to regulate the length of a working day, preventing excesses and abuses. An eight-hour work day has its origins in the 1 ...

, a group of veteran Milwaukee postal workers organized 60 postal worker veterans from 18 states who met in a tavern on Plankinton Avenue (the building, now used for storage by

Renaissance Books Renaissance Books is a large independent bookstore originally located in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, specializing in used books. Founded in the 1950s by George John and Erwin Just, it is now owned by Robert John, George's younger brother."Shab ...

, formerly housed the headquarters of Manpower Inc.) on August 30, 1889, immediately following the national encampment of the

Grand Army of the Republic The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (United States Army), Union Navy (United States Navy, U.S. Navy), and the United States Marine Corps, Marines who served in the American Ci ...

in Milwaukee. The postal workers agreed to form the National Association of Letter Carriers, demanding an eight-hour work day, a higher pay scale, a

pension A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...

plan, and

service stripe A service stripe is an embroidered diagonal stripe worn on the sleeve(s) of some military and paramilitary uniforms. In the case of the United States military, service stripes are authorized for wear by enlisted personnel on the lower part of the ...

s for every four years of service.Buck, Diane M. and Virginia A. Palmer (1995). ''Outdoor Sculpture in Milwaukee: A Cultural and Historical Guidebook'', p. 42. The State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Madison Elliot Offner was commissioned through the Franz Bader Gallery in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * ...

to create the monument. He built the

maquette A ''maquette'' (French word for scale model, sometimes referred to by the Italian names ''plastico'' or ''modello'') is a scale model or rough draft of an unfinished sculpture. An equivalent term is ''bozzetto'', from the Italian word for "sketc ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge becam ...

, England while he was there as a visiting artist. He then worked with the Tallix Foundry in

Beacon, New York Beacon is a city located in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The 2020 census placed the city total population at 13,769. Beacon is part of the Poughkeepsie– Newburgh– Middletown, New York Metropolitan Statistical Area as wel ...

cast Cast may refer to: Music * Cast (band), an English alternative rock band * Cast (Mexican band), a progressive Mexican rock band * The Cast, a Scottish musical duo: Mairi Campbell and Dave Francis * ''Cast'', a 2012 album by Trespassers William ...

the sculpture. The work was sent to Milwaukee by truck from New York. Centennial celebrations lasted four days and included a parade, exhibits and the dedication of the monument by Vincent R. Sombrotto, NALC's president. More than four thousand letter carriers and their families attended the festivities. The U.S. Postal Service issued a postage stamp (designed by Jack Davis) depicting three contemporary letter carriers, to commemorate the centennial day. Buck and Palmer's 1995 ''Outdoor Sculpture in Milwaukee: A Cultural and Historical Guidebook'' observes: "The downtown Milwaukee site of the monument is correct in a historical sense, but unsuccessful in its public presence. Site considerations for the monument were overlooked and it stands on the small crowded triangle with annoying awkwardness."

Postman Square / Postman's Porch

In 2016, the small triangular pocket park around the statue, known as Postman Square, was improved with new furniture to encourage lunch hour visitors. In 2019, the space was improved again and re-christened Postman's Porch. The space was redesigned to become more open by removing hedges and adding additional plaza space. Reading materials, tables and chairs and festive banners were also added. A series of concerts were held to create a spirit of community gathering.

References

{{MilwaukeePublicArt 1980s establishments in Wisconsin 1989 establishments in Wisconsin 1989 sculptures Bronze sculptures in Wisconsin Mail carriers Monuments and memorials in Wisconsin National Association of Letter Carriers Outdoor sculptures in Milwaukee Sculptures of African Americans Sculptures of men in Wisconsin Sculptures of women in Wisconsin Statues in Wisconsin