Over the years the Office of the Treasurer
has seen tremendous changes and reflected the
often turbulent history of our nation. It is
the only office in the Treasury Department
that is older than the Department itself.
Originally, the Continental Congress created
joint treasurers of the United Colonies on
July 29, 1775. At that time, the Continental
Congress appointed Michael Hillegas and
George Clymer to serve. They were instructed
to reside in Philadelphia, which was the home
of the Continental Congress. Their major
responsibility was to raise money for the
Revolutionary War. Unlike today's Treasurer,
neither of their signatures appeared on the
"continentals" as the paper money was then
called.
On August 6,1776, George Clymer resigned and the Continental Congress appointed Michael Hillegas as the sole Continental Treasurer. After the name of our nation was changed from the United Colonies to the United States, on September 9, 1776, Michael Hillegas continued as the Treasurer of the United States, although his title was not officially changed to reflect the new reality until March 1778. Treasurer Hillegas served the new nation until September 11, 1789 and was succeeded by Samuel Meredith who served until October 3, 1801 (for a complete list of U.S. Treasurers, please visit our index of Treasurers of the United States.).
Both before and after the Revolutionary
War, the United States recognized the need to
safeguard the integrity of its currency and
to prevent counterfeiting. Just as today, the
new government realized that it needed to
stay ahead of counterfeiters by employing
technology to design bank notes. At that
time, though, private printers produced the
notes that were then issued to banks.
Benjamin Franklin came up with several simple
but ingenious methods to slow down
counterfeiters. On one design for a bank
note, he deliberately misspelled the name
"Philadelphia." But his most original idea
was to create a print of a leaf design on the
currency. The intricacy of the leaf's pattern
was impossible to duplicate because no two
leaves are ever exactly alike in design. An
example of the "leaf note" remains in the
Smithsonian collection.
The job of fighting counterfeiting
continued during the Civil War. At that time,
the government took over the printing of
currency from private banks and printers to
standardize the design of the money, which
was quickly dubbed "greenbacks." On July 17,
1861, Congress passed the first federal law
authorizing the U.S. Government to issue
paper money.
At that time, Frances Spinner was serving
as Treasurer, under Abraham Lincoln, and he
stirred up a great deal of controversy by
hiring the first female employees at
Treasury. In 1862, he hired Jennie Douglas to
cut and trim paper. This was a hand operation
that had previously been done entirely by
men. Treasurer Spinner was so pleased with
his experiment that he remarked, "the first
day Miss Douglas spent on the job settled the
matter in her behalf and in women's favor."
He subsequently appointed many women to
positions in the Treasury.
Treasurer Spinner came under a lot of
criticism from opponents. The tax collector
of Kalamazoo declared, "I do not think the
service of females could be made efficient in
the collecting department or be brought
within the range of propriety."
A New York tax assessor joined in, "if the
nerves and firmness of a man can rarely be
found to withstand the wily exactions of
dishonest taxpayers, I doubt the wisdom of
filling their places with females."
The women, however, were not without
support. The assessor of Manchester wrote,
"female clerks are more attentive, diligent
and efficient than males and make better
clerks. I intend very soon to have none but
females in my office."
Treasurer Spinner declared that the women
in the Treasury were "hardworking, efficient,
had excellent work habits and integrity." For
his innovation and his spirited defense of
female employees, the women of New York
erected a statue of him in his hometown of
Herkimer, New York.
Meanwhile, at the same time that we were
taking steps to protect our money by
standardizing and printing it at in the
basement of the Treasury building, the
government was engaged in efforts to
destabilize the Confederate currency.
Over the years, the Office of the
Treasurer grew and under various
reorganizations, reported to various senior
executives. By 1921, Secretary Andrew Mellon
assigned the Treasurer to report directly to
the newly created position of Under Secretary
of the Treasury, the second ranking official
in the Treasury Department. At the same time,
the role of the Treasurer greatly expanded
until in the 1940s the Treasurer was
reporting to the Fiscal Assistant Secretary.
The Treasurer's Office continued to receive
and disburse government funds. By the 1970s,
the Treasurer's Office had a staff of over
1,000 employees to fulfill these
responsibilities.
In a reorganization on February 14, 1974,
the Office of the Treasurer was separated
from the Fiscal Service and the Treasurer
undertook new duties and responsibilities. On
July 21, 1974, Francine Neff was sworn in as
Treasurer and was the first Treasurer to fill
the newly defined position. Her first
responsibility was to manage the
Treasury-wide bicentennial Program. On
January 6, 1975, the Treasurer was also named
head of the Savings Bonds Division with the
title National Director. Francine Neff was
the first Treasurer to hold the position of
National Director and to manage a bureau. The
new treasurer reported directly to the
Undersecretary for Monetary Affairs.
Although the duties and responsibilities
of the office did not change, on September
12, 1977, history was made once again when
Azie Taylor Morton was named the first
African American Treasurer.
The Office of the Treasurer underwent
further reorganization in 1981 when the
Treasurer was given supervision of the Bureau
of Engraving and Printing and the U.S. Mint.
As a result, both directors now reported
directly to the Treasurer, who then reported
to the Deputy Secretary.
In another major change in 1993 the Savings Bonds Division
was abolished and their functions and employees were put under
the supervision of the Bureau of Public Debt in an effort
to streamline the federal government.
In 2002, the Office of the Treasurer underwent further reorganization. The Treasurer currently advises the Director of the Mint, the Director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the Deputy Secretary and the Secretary on matters relating to coinage, currency and the production of other instruments by the United States. The Treasurer also serves as one of the Treasury Department's principal advisors and spokespersons in the area of financial literacy and education.
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