Fields, Mary
c.1832-1914 · Contribution: 1895-1903
Transportation
First African American woman to work as a U.S. Postal Service Star Route mail carrier
Portraits are AI-generated interpretations, not photographs.
Quick facts
- Born
- c.1832-1914
- Active since
- 1895-1903
- Category
- Transportation
Impact on the world
Born into slavery, Fields became a celebrated figure of the American West, proving her reliability on one of the era's most punishing mail routes.
An alternative history
What Would the World Look Like Without It?
One contribution. Many possible consequences. No single-person origin story.
Imagine this selected contribution absent, not the person or the entire field. The areas below are reflection prompts related to this discipline, not verified chains of direct dependency.
Sources
- Source lookupFind
Smithsonian National Postal Museum
Exact source links open the cited record. Source lookups help locate legacy references whose original records did not include a direct URL.
6 more sources and references are available to members.
More in Transportation
Allen, Thomas C.
unknown
Co-completed the first transcontinental flight by Black pilots in U.S. history, serving as mechanic and co-pilot alongside James Herman Banning
Banning, James Herman
1899-1933
First African American to be licensed as a pilot by the U.S. government; co-completed the first transcontinental flight by Black pilots
Beard, Andrew
1849-1921
Improved automatic railroad car coupler (Janney coupler design)
Bluford, Guion 'Guy' Jr.
1942-
Aerospace engineering and human spaceflight