Happy 150th Birthday GPO
Today, March 4, marks 150 years of business for the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO). The country's largest in-plant opened its doors on March 4, 1861, the same day President Abraham Lincoln took the oath of office. It has been producing and delivering government documents for all three branches of the Federal Government and the public ever since.
Throughout its history, the agency has used constantly changing technologies to meet the needs of the U.S. Congress, federal agencies, and the public. During GPO’s early days, employees relied on ink and paper to set the text for “The Emancipation Proclamation.” Today, as another President from Illinois leads the nation, GPO employees are using the latest digital technology to document the actions of our government while carrying out its founding mission of “Keeping America Informed.”
Employing just 2,200 staff, fewer than at any time in the past century, GPO now provides a range of products and activities that could only have been dreamed of 30 years ago: online databases of federal documents, government publications available as e-Books, passports and smart cards with electronic chips carrying biometric data and a public presence not only on the Web, but on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
In addition, GPO’s partnership with the printing industry is responsible for producing 75 percent of the government’s needs and enormous savings to the taxpayer, while supporting tens of thousands of jobs in the small printing businesses throughout the nation.
- Places:
- Illinois