Richard R. Edwards, 1983
Born in 1897 in Carmi, illinois, Mr. Edwards came to Champaign in 1915. According to his son, he "came up here looking for work. Joined his brother here." The second Black mail carrier in Champaign, he worked for over thirty years for the post office. His son (who was the fourth Black mail carrier in Champaign) said in 1983, "Heck, everybody in town knows him." Mr. Edwards was also Deputy Probation Officer for Champaign County for six years and, a former president of Douglass Center, he was one of the group who founded the center in 1943 dedicating the building to "the youth of today - our hope for tomorrow."
