Caesar H. Wright Jr. Post Office Building

Floor Speech

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Ms. MACE. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 6042.

Born on Hilton Head Island in 1935, Caesar Wright grew up on a very different Hilton Head than most visitors and residents experience today. In his youth, the island was sparsely populated by Gullah farmers and fishermen, descendants of slaves, and individuals who lived on the island since the end of the Civil War, many with close ties to Mitchelville, America's first Freedmen's Village.

Wright left Claflin College to serve our country in the U.S. Air Force.

He and his wife, Annette, then moved to their hometown of Hilton Head Island, where she served as a teacher and he served as one of Hilton Head's only postmen at the time.

Wright joined the U.S. Postal Service in 1968, serving one of the two existing routes on the island back in those days.

Wright was the island's first African-American postal carrier and opened many doors previously closed to Black men at the U.S. Postal Service.

Wright delivered the mail for 29 years, starting out on mostly sandy roads and ending up as one of the many carriers working within a single development, the Hilton Head Plantation.

He retired 22 years ago, but he was always seen and was always a huge part of the Hilton Head Island community.

Wright goes back to a day when mail carriers knew everyone on the island, their comings and goings, their heartaches and their habits. His customers adored him and would frequently call on him at home.

When Caesar Wright passed away in 2019 at the age of 84, all of the island's postal carriers united and gave him a funeral escort. Dozens of mail trucks escorted the flag-draped coffin of Caesar Wright to his final resting place on the banks of Skull Creek. His colleagues told reporters at the time that he exemplified customer service.

Today, in part because of Caesar Wright's work, Hilton Head Island has over 34 postal routes and three post offices, one of which will soon bear his name.

Today, the naming of this post office represents the Gullah roots of the community, the history in the community, and Caesar Wright's lifelong service to his Nation and to his community.

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