Alice Sanger

For the fictional character, see The Up-To-Date Sorcerer.

Alice B. Sanger was an American secretary and the first woman to become part of the White House Staff in 1890.

Sketch of Alice Sanger from 1889

Early life

Alice B. Sanger was born in Watertown, Massachusetts^[1] in 1864.^[2] Her father was Joseph Sanger Jr., the namesake of the town of Sanger, California,^[3] and her mother was Susan Webster Smith.^[1] She was their only child.^[4] While a child, her parents moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, where she completed her education. Her father was the traffic manager for a railroad company. After graduating high school at age 15, she began studying stenography and typewriting.^[2]

Career

Typist and stenographer

One day, while taking court reports, Sanger met William H. H. Miller of the law firm Harrison, Miller, and Elam. Miller rushed into the courtroom seeking a stenographer. She was employed at the law firm for two years, where she met Benjamin Harrison.^[2] In 1889, she was the only person entrusted to view President Harrison's handwritten notes for the State of the Union address, which was a break from tradition. Prior, it was typical that an advance copy of the State of the Union would be sent to newspapers with the understanding that it was not to be published until its formal release, though this resulted in the message getting published prematurely at times.^[5] She was a skilled stenographer, able to dictate 200 words per minute in shorthand. Her spelling was said to be "absolutely perfect".^[6]

White House

On January 2, 1890, Sanger became the first woman to join the White House staff. She was appointed by President Harrison^[7] and was the presidential secretary.^[8] One newspaper article described her as knowing "more about Mr. Harrison's affairs, both private and executive, than anybody else in the world".^[8] She also worked on behalf of First Lady Caroline Harrison, answering her private and official correspondence.^[2] She was noted for her "wonderful ability to keep political secrets",^[9] and referred to as a "jewel of secrecy".^[2]

Post Office Department

In 1894 during the second presidency of Grover Cleveland, she was transferred from her position to the United States Post Office Department (the predecessor of the United States Postal Service). At this point, she had been a stenographer and a typist for eight years.^[10] Her responsibilities at the Post Office included arranging contracts for telegraph and cable rates, indexing annual reports, making a daily digest of the Congressional Record, editing the Postal Guide, and tracking all legislation affecting the Office.^[11]

Sanger was promoted by 1930 to the Department's Personnel Officer. She worked there for forty years, retiring on January 31, 1934, in order to spend more time on her art.^[12]

Flag Day

Sanger is the originator of the US holiday Flag Day.^[13] She was known as the "Betsy Ross of the Post Office Department".^[3]

Personal life

Sanger was the vice president of the Bannockburn Golf Club, recording secretary of the Lucy Holcomb Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and a member of the Indiana Society, Fine Art Society, and Historical Society.^[11] She continued to live in Washington, D.C., after her retirement from the Post Office, sharing an apartment with Kate Edmunds.^[14]

Sanger died on September 4, 1941, in Washington, D.C.

See also

• Beatrice Aitchison—the first woman to be appointed to a policy level Post Office position
• Isabelle Story—first woman employed as an information officer of a Department of the Interior Bureau

References

1. Daughters of the American Revolution (1924). Lineage Book. Vol. 68. p. 313.
2. Sifton Pepper, Caroline (5 April 1890). "Miss Alice B. Sanger". Fall River Daily Evening News. Fall River, MA. p. 6.
3. "How Sanger Was Named". Oakland Tribune. Oakland, CA. 15 May 1938.
4. Downing Coolidge, Emma (1930). Descendants of John and Mary Coolidge of Watertown, Massachusetts, 1630. Wright & Potter Printing Company. p. 142.
5. "Can She Keep It Secret?". The Chicago Tribune. 12 November 1889. p. 1.
6. "Here and There". The Daily Leader. Lexington, KY. 16 January 1890. p. 8.
7. "President Harrison welcomes Alice Sanger as first female staffer". History. 16 November 2009. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
8. Fitzhugh, Daisy (7 September 1890). "The Nation's Capital". The Daily Leader. Lexington, KY. p. 3.
9. "The White House Stenographer Transferred to Mr. Bissell's Department". The Indianapolis Journal. 30 August 1894. p. 1.
10. "Miss Sanger's New Office". The Washington Times. 31 August 1894. p. 2.
11. "Departmental Notes of Interest to Uncle Sam's Army of Employes [sic]". The Washington Post. 30 November 1913.
12. "Ends Long Federal Service". Johnson City Chronicle. Johnson City, TN. 4 February 1934. p. 11.
13. Dill, Marie (28 December 1915). "Women Who Lead The Way". The Wilkes-Barre Record. Wilkes-Barre, PA. p. 14.
14. "Miss Sanger Back". Evening Star. Washington, DC. 1 September 1938. p. 24.