Signs will be officially unveiled Monday designating the intersection of Van Nuys Boulevard and Kewen Avenue in Pacoima as Nancy C. Avery Square, honoring the first Black postmaster of a “first class” post office since Reconstruction.
Avery was the postmaster of the Pacoima Post Office from 1961 until her retirement in 1984. “First class” post offices are determined based on revenue, and in 1961 the Pacoima Post Office was among the 11.6% of the locations that qualified for that designation, according to the motion by Los Angeles City Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez that designated the intersection in Avery’s honor.
Before her appointment by Postmaster General J. Edward Day, the only other Black postmasters had worked in small rural post offices, according to an obituary of Avery supplied by organizers of the event, citing information from the U.S. Postal Service.
Avery was also an active volunteer with the Democratic Party and NAACP and president of what is now the Board of Animal Services Commissioners. She died in 1992 at age 72.
The unveiling is being conducted in connection with Black History Month, a spokesman for Rodriguez told City News Service.