<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3M1Qbc_1GtNB2qA00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3M1Qbc_1GtNB2qA00" width="1547" height="1339" ><figcaption>In 1956, Estelle Pierce pins a safe driving award on Ed Purcell with mail carrier Dorris Whitfield looking on. Photo obtained via “A History of the Community and City of Chamblee, 1983, Vivan Price.</figcaption></figure>Estelle Gaines Pierce was among a small group of early women postmasters in Georgia. According to the U.S. Appointment of Postmaster records, she held that position in Chamblee from 1933 until 1961, when she retired. She was postmaster during the Great Depression, World War II and through the growth years that followed the war.Pierce was born in Blue Ridge, Georgia, in 1897. In 1915, she married Everett Alonzo Pierce, a traveling salesman from South Dakota. They had three children: Dorothy, Louise and William. William died while serving with the U.S. Marines in 1945. Later in their marriage, they lived at 4156 Osborne Road in what is now Brookhaven. (Atlanta Journal, Everett A. Pierce obituary, 1957)At the beginning of her career as postmaster of Chamblee, Pierce was the only employee, but that changed as Chamblee grew. Additional locations opened at Oglethorpe Apartments, Lawson General Hospital and Naval Air Station Atlanta in 1950, and new employees were hired. (Atlanta Constitution, May 3, 1950, “Chamblee Opens New Postal Station”)Pierce was also an artist. She created a design for the Chamblee Post Office representing the places that were part of its history: Camp Gordon, U.S. Veterans Hospital No. 48 and Northside Airport, which became Naval Air Station Atlanta. Through her design, she paid tribute to the dairy and lumber industry along with Dr. Luther Fischer’s beautiful gardens, known as Flowerland. (“A History of the Community and City of Chamblee,” 1983, Vivian Price)<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0mA1Et_1GtNB2qA00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0mA1Et_1GtNB2qA00" width="1418" height="1462" ><figcaption>Pierce designed this logo for the Chamblee Post Office in 1938. “A History of the Community and City of Chamblee, 1983, Vivian Price.</figcaption></figure>Pierce was a member of the North DeKalb Pilot Club. Members weren’t pilots flying planes; they were women leaders in the business and professional world. In 1959, she was installed as the first president of the club at the Dogwood Motel Restaurant on Buford Highway. (Atlanta Journal, Jan. 23, 1959, “Pilot Club Forms in North DeKalb”)The post office we know today at Broad Street and Irvindale Way was in the planning stage in 1960. The post office would move to this new location from its previous home at 5352 Peachtree Road. (Atlanta Journal, April 20, 1960, “Chamblee Post Office to Move”)When President Franklin Delano Roosevelt traveled to Atlanta and Warm Springs in 1935, community leaders were pictured and given a chance to send a message to him in the Atlanta Constitution. Pierce was one of those individuals. Her words for Roosevelt were: “Welcome to Georgia. We shall do all we can to help you enjoy your visit to our state.” Among the individuals with words for the president were city council leaders, Roosevelt Club leaders, sheriffs and other postmasters. (Atlanta Constitution, Nov. 29, 1935, “Believers in a Greater Nation Under the Leadership of President Roosevelt”)Pierce died in 1984 and is buried at Prospect Methodist Cemetery in Chamblee, where she and her husband were members. He died 27 years earlier and was already laid to rest at Prospect.Award-winning author Valerie Biggerstaff has been a columnist for Appen Media and the Dunwoody Crier for 20 years. She lives in Atlanta. You can email Valerie at pasttensega@gmail.com or visit her website at pasttensega.com.</div></body>

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Estelle Gaines Pierce was among a small group of early women postmasters in Georgia. According to the U.S. Appointment of Postmaster records, she held that position in Chamblee from 1933 until 1961, when she retired. She was postmaster during the Great Depression, World War II and through the growth years that followed the war.

Past Tense: Estelle Gaines Pierce, Chamblee Postmaster

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Estelle Gaines Pierce was among a small group of early women postmasters in Georgia. According to the U.S. Appointment of Postmaster records, she held that

Past Tense: Estelle Gaines Pierce, Chamblee Postmaster

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