Minnie M. Cox

Minnie M. (Geddings) Cox (1869–1933) was an American teacher who was appointed the first black postmaster in Mississippi, following closely behind Anna M. Dumas, who was appointed to the same position in 1872 in Covington, Louisiana. Though she made national headlines after President Theodore Roosevelt refused to release her from her position after threats of violence from whites in Indianola, Cox was dedicated to equal rights in Mississippi. Responding to the disparities in resources available to black citizens for banking and insurance, she opened her own bank and insurance companies to protect their assets.

Early life Minnie M. Geddings was born in 1869 to Mary Geddings and William Geddings in Lexington, Mississippi. Cox was part of one of the largest cohorts at the time, with 100 graduates completing studies at the normal school to earn teaching degrees in 1888. A year later, she married Wellington Cox. Cox again assumed the position under President William McKinley and remained in the role under President Teddy Roosevelt. Though she was praised for her work in streamlining the mail system for the community, she took her position much further, installing a telephone for patrons' convenience and paying delinquent rent throughout the community out of her own pocket. The Clarion-Ledger reported that the town generally believed, "she was polite and obliging, and had, and still has, the good will of practically the entire citizenship...there was never friction between the office and its patrons...She was regarded here simply like any other negro who attends strictly to business and displays the proper respect for the impassable link between the two races." In Mississippi, Cox's skin color was enough to force her out of the office, whether the replacement was qualified—or even truly interested—to run the post office.

Roosevelt initially rejected her resignation, aware of the rising racial tension in the South and the reports of happenings in Sunflower County. He hoped to find a more peaceful solution that would allow Cox to safely remain in the role. However, Vardaman's gubernatorial rhetoric of the "negro menace", a rise in the violence perpetuated by the Ku Klux Klan, and the redefinition of political parties put Cox at risk.