GPO Begins 150 Year Anniversary Celebration

The U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) kicked off its 150 year anniversary celebration on June 23, 2010. GPO was created when President James Buchanan signed Joint Resolution 25 on June 23, 1860. GPO opened its doors for business nine months later on March 4, 1861, the same day Abraham Lincoln took the oath of office becoming the 16th President of the United States. GPO began celebrating this milestone with an event that honored its current and retired employees. Public Printer Bob Tapella and Archivist David Ferriero unveiled a facsimile of the seven-page handwritten document that created the agency.

"When you think about GPO's rich history and what has made GPO successful for the past 150 years, it's our hardworking employees," said Public Printer Bob Tapella. "GPO is a family business. We have families who have contributed to this agency that span three and four generations. It's that dedication which has made GPO one of the largest printing, secure credentialing and digital information facilities in the world."

As part of the celebration, GPO launched a Web page devoted to the agency's 150 year history that includes portraits of past public printers as well as a video of the history of GPO. To learn more about the history of the GPO, GPO has reissued 100 GPO Years, 1861-1961, which can be purchased from the U.S. Government Bookstore. Read the GPO press release.

View pictures from GPO's 150 year kick-off celebration:

{rokbox title=|100 GPO Years, 1861-1961 :: A history of United States Public Printing was published for the agency's centennial in 1961, and is arranged in a succinct year-by-year format. Although it has been out of print for many years, it was reissued in 2010 to kick off the 150th anniversary celebrations.| size=|600 399|}images/stories/gpo-anniversary/150th-book.jpg{/rokbox} {rokbox title=|Public Printer Bob Tapella :: Delivering the 150 year anniversary celebration speech on June 23, 2010.| size=|600 399|}images/stories/gpo-anniversary/150th-tapella-speaking.jpg{/rokbox}{rokbox title=|Archivist David Ferriero :: Delivering a speech about his interaction with GPO.| size=|600 455|}images/stories/gpo-anniversary/150th-ferriero.jpg{/rokbox}{rokbox title=|Public Printer Bob Tapella and Archivist David Ferriero :: Talking with GPO employees after unveiling a facsimile of the seven-page handwritten document that created the agency.| size=|600 365|}images/stories/gpo-anniversary/150th-tapella-ferriero.jpg{/rokbox}
{rokbox title=|GPO Employees :: Current and former GPO employees attended the event.| size=|600 470|}images/stories/gpo-anniversary/150th-crowd.jpg{/rokbox}{rokbox title=|Public Printer Bob Tapella :: Signing an employee's copy of the 100 GPO Years book.| size=|600 436|}images/stories/gpo-anniversary/150th-tap-booksign.jpg{/rokbox} {rokbox title=|GPO Employees Interviewed :: Several GPO employees were interviewed during the event.| size=|600 440|}images/stories/gpo-anniversary/150th-crowd-interview.jpg{/rokbox} {rokbox title=|Joint Resolution 25 :: A GPO employee admires the display of the facsimile of the seven-page handwritten document that created the agency.| size=|600 367|}images/stories/gpo-anniversary/150th-resolution.jpg{/rokbox}