Frazier Baker Post Office

On February 22, 2019, U.S. House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn along with other elected officials and the Baker Family renamed the Lake City Post Office in a public ceremony in honor of postmaster Frazier B. Baker.[1] Having been appointed as the first African American to serve as postmaster at the Lake City Post Office in 1897, Frazier Baker courageously refused to give up his position despite threats from white community members. February 22, 1898, Baker and his infant daughter, Julia, were lynched as white townspeople shot bullets into his home and set it on fire. His wife, Lavinia, and their other children escaped with their lives but were wounded. The dedication took place 121 years after the lynching to acknowledge the ultimate sacrifice that Baker and many others gave in standing up against injustice and intolerance. The post office building itself was built and opened in 1962 under President John F. Kennedy. Following the lynching of Baker, Lake City was without a post office for decades until this post office was erected. The Postmaster General at the time of its building was J. Edward Day and the Deputy Director Postmaster General was H.W. Brawley. If you walk inside this mid-century modern, concrete block building, you will see on the far-right wall a photograph of Mrs. Frazier Baker and her children. Under this photograph is a plaque which reads “This building is named in Honor of Postmaster Frazier B. Baker by an act of Congress Public Law 115-388 December 21, 2018.”

[1] https://clyburn.house.gov/press-release/postmaster-frazier-b-baker-post-office-dedication-announced-new-lake-city-post-office