Where’s my refund? It’s a common refrain during tax season. Refunds are processed pretty seamlessly considering the volume. Yet when most people think of employees in the federal government, they think only of bureaucrats, not the people who process refunds. The IRS employees processed over 240 million returns in FY 2020.
We have short term memories.
Most people fail to remember that the federal government has often led the way in parity in pay. Although women could not vote and were treated unfairly in most positions, the United States Lighthouse Board in the 1800s treated women differently. Women received equal pay and supervised men in lower positions.
In 1776, George Washington raised the salary of keepers from $120 to $333.33. Alexander Hamilton, his Secretary of Treasury pushed for the Lighthouse Act to federalize lighthouses.
Washington’s government shouldered its first major public works bill, a lighthouse on Portland Head. It was completed in 1791.
The Strout family of Portland Head Lighthouse created a dynasty of light keepers. Joshua Strout, Head Light Keeper, 1869-1904, Mary E. Strout, Assistant Light Keeper, 1869-1877, Joseph Strout served as Assistant Light Keeper 1877-1904 before becoming head light keeper, 1904-1928.