victoria the post office cat

Washington D.C., 1919:  a young Italian strikes a blow for equality as a single mother and immigrant in the employ of the US Postal Service.  Victor Emmanuel, a tortoiseshell left behind by a foreign official, was adopted by the city post office as a staff mouser, only to surprise her employer with the value-added gift of four kittens and a fast rethink on gender.

-- Angell, George T. (George Thorndike), 1823-1909, and Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Our Dumb Animals. [Boston]: Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, v. 52 no. 2 (July 1919), p. 27.