Indianola is a U.S. city in Sunflower County, Mississippi, in the Mississippi Delta. The population was 10,683 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Sunflower County.

In 1891, Minnie M. Cox was appointed postmaster of Indianola, becoming the first black female postmaster in the United States. Her rank was raised from fourth class to third class in 1900, and she was appointed to a full four-year term. Cox’s turn was one of the most acclaimed and lucrative public posts in Indianola, as it served approximately 3,000 patrons and paid $1,100 annually, then a large sum. White resentment to Cox’s prestigious perspective began to grow, and in 1902 some white residents in Indianola drew taking place a petition requesting Cox’s resignation. James K. Vardaman, editor of The Greenwood Commonwealth and a white supremacist, began delivering speeches reproaching the people of Indianola for “tolerating a negro wench as a postmaster.”

Racial tensions grew, and threats of physical hurt led Cox to comply her abandonment to accept effect on January 1, 1903. The incident attracted national attention, and President Theodore Roosevelt refused to take her resignation, feeling Cox had been wronged, and the authority of the federal presidency was bodily compromised. “Roosevelt stood resolute. Unless Cox’s detractors could prove a reason for her dismissal other than the color of her skin, she would remain the Indianola postmistress.”

Roosevelt closed Indianola’s state office on January 2, 1903, and rerouted mail to Greenville; Cox continued to receive her salary. The thesame month, the United States Senate debated the Indianola postal issue for four hours, and Cox left Indianola for her own safety and did not return. In February 1904, the post office was reopened but was demoted in rank from third class to fourth class.