A dedication and unveiling of a new square will be held next week in front of the Pacoima Post Office to honor the first Black person to head a major post office.
Nancy Avery, a lifelong civil rights activist, was an active Democratic party worker, housewife and school recreation assistant in 1961 when then President John F. Kennedy named her the postmaster for Pacoima.
Up until 1971, with the passage of the Postal Reorganization Act, Postal Service appointments were made by the president rather than through civil service examination. While there had been Black postmasters before her, they had worked in smaller, rural offices.
Avery served as the postmaster for the Pacoima Post Office until 1984 before she retired and moved to Lancaster. She died in January 1992 at the age of 72.
The dedication of the Nancy C. Avery Square on Monday, Feb. 23, will be in partnership between Adonai Convent International Ministries and Los Angeles City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez.
Rev. Zedar Broadous, executive minister for Adonai Convent International Ministries, said he approached Rodriguez about the dedication, saying the councilmember “was excited when we brought her the background and request to name the intersection in honor of Mrs. Avery. She and her staff immediately began the process with the LA City Council for approval to make it happen.”
She was also affiliated with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and served on the executive committee of the San Fernando Valley NAACP branch.
It was because of her work with the party and the NAACP that Democratic leaders urged her appointment as postmaster.
“The Democratic Party wanted to do something that had never been done before,” Avery said before her retirement. “I was the token.”
The Pacoima Post Office is located at 13507 Van Nuys Blvd. The ceremony will begin at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 23.