Glover becomes Newark’s 35th postmaster, first black woman to hold position

NEWARK, NJ — Silvia Glover has been officially sworn in to the highest-level postmaster position in the state of New Jersey, with retail and delivery oversight of the city of Newark.

At a June 2 ceremony at 2 Federal Square in Newark, Glover became responsible for overseeing more than 500 postal employees working at 12 stations and branches serving an estimated population of just under 300,000 people. The Newark Post Office provides delivery service to more than 158,000 locations through 223 city and rural delivery routes.

“Through hard work, dedication and prayer, I’ve been able to join the amazing leadership team in New Jersey. I am honored and proud to represent women as postmaster of Newark,” Glover said.

Glover began her postal career 29 years ago as a letter carrier in New York City. She has held numerous leadership positions of increasing responsibility, including customer service supervisor in Brooklyn, customer services manager in Staten Island and customer service operations manager in Newark. Glover is currently enrolled in the USPS Managerial Leadership Program. Glover also graduated from the immersive Processing Distribution Management and the Management Essentials for Field Leadership program.

Glover has been the acting Newark postmaster since 2020. Since then, she has hired more than 100 new letter carriers and has focused on service performance metrics regarding priority and first-class mail. 

“I am committed to excellence and service here in Newark. As postmaster, I will achieve that by implementing the postal service’s ‘Delivering for America’ 10-year plan,” Glover said.

The first known black woman to serve as a postmaster was Anna M. Dumas, appointed postmaster of Covington, La., in 1872. In 2020, 7,610 of the nation’s 13,617 postmasters were women, representing more than 55 percent.

  U.S. Postal Service