Sophia Holmes

Sophia Brown Holmes (c.1825 – October 10, 1900) was an American federal civil servant who was the first Black/African-American woman hired by the United States Federal government.

Biography

Holmes was born between 1825 and 1830 in Washington, D.C''.''United States Census,1860 database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCVM-YP3 , accessed 29 September 2020), Sophia Holmes in household of Sophia Holmes, 2nd Ward Washington City, Washington, District of Columbia, United States. In 1852, as a free woman, she married Melchoir Malachi Holmes, an enslaved man. In 1854, her husband was to be sold at auction and sent to the South. However, through the efforts of abolitionist Gerrit Smith Melchoir was bought by William Seaton, the editor of the National Intelligencer and later mayor of Washington D.C., for $1000. Seaton then paid Melchoir $25 a month in wages and Sophia $25 a month for washing in credit towards the debt for Melchoir's freedom.Thirty Years in Washington; Or, Life and Scenes in Our National Capital: Portraying the Wonderful Operations in All the Great Departments, and Describing Every Important Function of Our National Government ... With Sketches of the Presidents and Their Wives ... from Washington's to Roosevelt's Administration. Mary Simmerson Cunningham, Mrs. John A. Logan. A.D. Worthington and Company. 1901. By 1861, the couple had raised sufficient funds to purchase his freedom.  While his emancipation papers were being processed, he enlisted in the Union Army under Col. French's regiment, 4th Maine Company H, as a servant to Captain George J. Burns. During the First Battle of Bull Run, Melchoir was killed, reportedly taking Burns' place on the battlefield after Burns was injured.

Civil Service Employment

Following her husband's death in 1861, Holmes, through the advocacy of Senator Henry Wilson and James G. Blaine, among others, was provided employment in the United States Treasury Central Department of Issue Office as a janitress for $15 a month under Secretary of the Treasury Francis Spinner.The United States Treasury Register Containing a List of Persons Employed in 1874. By the United States. Department of the Treasury, accessed 29 September 2020. Holmes was the first African American woman hired into formal federal employment.This Grand Experiment: When Women Entered the Federal Workforce in Civil War-Era Washington, D.C., by Jessica Ziparo. University of North Carolina Press, 2017.

In 1862, at the beginning of her initial tenure as an employee for the Treasury, Holmes prevented a massive theft of funds. Her duties at the Treasury Department "consisted of sweeping, scrubbing, dusting, emptying baskets and boxes of waste papers." One evening, as Holmes was cleaning, she discovered a box packed with bills, "some as large as $1,000." Holmes informed Secretary Spinner of her find.The Chautauquan: Organ of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle. Women in the Treasury Department in Washington. Mary Lockwood. T.L. Flood Publishing House. 1892. This prevention of a major theft of more than $200,000 was described in numerous newspaper articles in great detail in later years and upon her death."First and Biggest Treasury Theft". Council Bluffs Nonpareil. Council Bluffs, Iowa. 12 January 1954. p. 4. Archived from the original on 2020-10-2. Retrieved 2020-10-2 – via Newspapers.com.Sophia: The Janitress of the United States Treasury Department. Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. 11 June 1893. p.10. Archived from the original on 2020-10-2. Retrieved 2020-10-2 – via Newspapers.com.Gone to Her Rest. Colored Woman who Served the Treasury. The Daily Notes. Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. 24 December 1900. p. 2. Archived from the original on 2020-10-2. Retrieved 2020-10-2 – via Newspapers.com.

Recognition

Holmes' prevention of a major theft from the federal government was one of the largest theft preventions in American history. Following this event, Holmes received an official commendation from President Lincoln and a lifetime executive appointment as a messenger for the Department of Issues. She was the first Black/African American woman officially appointed to the United States' Government Service.

By 1870 she had been promoted to the position of assistant messenger. In all, Holmes worked for the Treasury Department for 32 years under nine different administrations

Death

Holmes died on October 10, 1900, in Washington, D.C.District of Columbia Deaths, 1874-1961 with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F7TQ-PZG , accessed 29, September 2020), Sophia Holmes, death date 10 October 1900, District of Columbia, United States. She was originally interred at the Harmony Cemetery in Washington D.C., an African American cemetery that was established during the early nineteenth century. Her remains were later disinterred when the cemetery closed and reinterred at the National Harmony Memorial Park.

See also

*Jennie Douglas, the first woman officially hired to work for at the U.S. Treasury

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holmes, Sophia
1900 deaths
Civil servants from Washington, D.C.
Year of birth uncertain
Burials at Columbian Harmony Cemetery
American women civil servants
Burials at National Harmony Memorial Park