Women in Law Enforcement - Timeline: 1854-2011

Title

Women in Law Enforcement - Timeline: 1854-2011

Description

In 1854, the first known police matrons (also called jail matrons) were hired by New York City to search and guard female prisoners, but they were civilians with no law enforcement powers. Sarah Hill (pictured) became the second police matron in Davenport, Iowa, hired in 1893. Part of a larger police matron movement in the United States that began in Portland, Maine, in 1878, Matron Hill worked for 27 years to care for female criminals and their children. Police matrons’ duties varied, but they included sheltering and protecting women and children in police custody

Creator

National Law Enforcement Museum

Date

Circa 1900

Source

Women in Law Enforcement

Collection of the National Law Enforcement Museum, Washington, DC.

Source: National Law Enforcement, Washington, DC

Relation

Link to Women in Law Enforcement Timeline 1854-2011 

Rights

National Law Enforcement Museum

Publisher

National Law Enforcement Museum

Contributor

National Law Enforcement Museum

Format

Photograph

Language

English

Type

History

Identifier

Timeline

Coverage

Historic

Files

Matron-Hill-lg.jpg

Reference

National Law Enforcement Museum, Women in Law Enforcement - Timeline: 1854-2011, National Law Enforcement Museum, Circa 1900

Cite As

National Law Enforcement Museum, “Women in Law Enforcement - Timeline: 1854-2011,” Virtual Museum of Public Service, accessed March 29, 2024, https://vmps.omeka.net/items/show/103.