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Policewomen Agnes Walsh (from right), Anna Loucks, Theresa Johnson, Anna Sheridan, Lulu Burt, Mabel Rockwell, and Miss Clara B. Olsen. 1914

On August 5, 1913, ten women were sworn in as officers – or “copettes” as one reporter called them – for the Chicago Police Department. The women, all trained as social workers, did not wear uniforms or carry revolvers but they did have a badge.

The fight for female officers had been raging for decades. Women’s groups had long argued that female detainees and juveniles needed protection from male officers and other male prisoners. Searched, interrogated, and detained in cells often beside or within sight of men, women detainees often suffered rape and sexual assault. Even outside of jails and courtrooms, advocates argued that women with police authority could keep better order and protect the morals of women and children at beaches, public parks, and other places of amusement than male officers. They could become, in effect, “mothers to the motherless.”

Few police departments and politicians supported the effort. Many labeled the crusade unnecessary and a waste of money. Others argued that women were physically incapable of being officers. Even after many cities passed ordinances authorizing the hiring of women officers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, few appropriations were made to actually make the hires.

Chicago Mayor Carter Harrison pushed the city council to hire female officers for the department in 1913. An order was passed, and Harrison appointed ten women. Police training consisted of a two hour lecture delivered by the terrifically named Chief McWeeny (especially fitting considering the pervasive belief that women were not strong enough to be officers) who told the new recruits to have compassion, not be “too strenuous,” “don’t be too nosy,” and to “present all cases fairly and squarely.” The women then received a police whistle, a book of rules, and badge.

Two days later, on August 7th, two of the female officers made their first arrest. It was of another woman, Nellie Cameron, for disorderly conduct. The novelty of women arresting women attracted a fair bit of media attention. Everyone was eager to see how women would handle a potentially physical interaction in making arrests. One officer claimed that female criminals would put up a bigger fight than normal for policewomen because they would not be afraid of another woman. Those opposed to policewomen jumped on every opportunity to show that women could not handle the work, though given the limited role and power (not to mention gear and a proper uniform) afforded these early women officers, the comparison of male and female officers could hardly be fair.

Concern about women’s physical strength led the police chief to assign a new batch of women officers to jujitsu instruction in 1914, a development that led to the New York Times to report, “Policewomen to Wrestle.”

Women’s path into police work and law enforcement was long and hard. In 1913, there were 38 in the U.S. By 1915, this number had risen to 70 in 26 cities. Most served in limited roles, mostly keeping order among women and children, in public places. It would be decades more before they earned a more equal place on the force. Even so, these early women forged a pioneering course.

Photo shows ten newly appointed policewomen, Chicago, Illinois. They are (left to right) Mrs. Anna Loucks, Miss Clara Olsen, Miss Fannie Willsey, Miss Margaret Wilson, Mrs. L. C. Parks, Mrs. Margaret Butler, Mrs. Alice Clement, Mrs. Emma F. Neukon, Mrs. T. D. Meder (supervisor) and Gertrude Howe Britton (supervisor.) Chicago Daily News, Aug. 5, 1913, and Chicago History Museum

From The Chicago History Museum:

In 1913, Chicago’s Police Department welcomed its first cohort of female officers. Ten in all, they were a dynamic and pioneering group. Mayor Carter Harrison was a strong advocate for bringing women onto the force, taking the stance, which was widely held, that only women police officers were capable of taming the delinquent children of Chicago. Dealing with children was “women’s work,” and the sensitivity they would bring to managing child offenders would be of great service to society. Policewomen would uphold the moral character of the city.

The starting salary of a policewoman in 1913 was $75 a month, and each officer was assigned an area to patrol—often a beach, park, bus terminal, railroad station, or dancehall. Their duties included protecting girls from unsavory types who might lure them into danger and arresting girls for wearing questionable swimming costumes at the local beaches. Yes, a girl with a swimsuit whose neckline went a little too low could be arrested!

Leading up to their hire, suffragists debated what kind of women would be suitable for the job, what they would wear, and if these women would be armed when on duty. The right type of woman was described as being “husky” and having nerve, common sense, and ideals. Issues of dress involved gray versus blue suits; length of skirt (short enough, meaning showing the ankle, so a policewoman could run when necessary); type of hat (one suggestion was a gray sombrero); and the size and appearance of their star-shaped badge. Regarding weapons, some, including Louise DeKoven Bowen, believed that women already possessed the most effective weapon necessary to enforce the law: common sense. Others, like Minona Fitts Jones, felt they should be fully armed with one pistol—maybe two—but not clubs (Jones did not care for the look of the club). Although the cohort of women started out believing that “education . . . was more effective than force,” this view did not last long. Patrolling the streets of Chicago was (and still is) a hands-on, often dangerous job.

After the initial sorting out of who and what the Chicago policewoman would be, the new recruits did go out armed, wore some semblance of a uniform, and saw the range of their duties broaden over time. Today, approximately 25 percent of the Chicago Police Department is made up of women.

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What they were hoping to accomplish...


The sad reality!