Vintage Photos, Genealogy & Crime Stories
I was very fortunate to purchase this news photo on eBay a few years ago. It shows newly minted SFPD policewoman, Blanche Payson, being sworn in by Police Chief D.A. White. I suspect the photographer was careful to make sure the photo on the wall of famed police detective, Isaiah Lees, was also visible in … Continue reading Taking Her Oath
One of four prizes awarded to the fifty-six members of the Kansas City police force in the annual target contest Thanksgiving was won by Mrs. Vinnie Callahan, with every shot in the circle and two dead center. — The Kansas City Kansan, December 4, 1922 Everyone agreed that Vinnie Callahan was a great shot, though … Continue reading Two Dead Center for Thanksgiving
New York, Oct 11 — A trim young policewoman proved to be more than a match yesterday for a husky mugger, making up in know-how and spirit what she lacked in size and strength. Repeated reports of women being molested at a subway station in the financial district, which is lonely and nearly deserted … Continue reading The Subway Sting
When skeletal human remains were discovered on April 13, 1922, in a rural part of New York State near New York City, Mary E. Hamilton was assigned to the case. Hamilton, head of the short-lived New York City "Women's Precinct," was the first policewoman to serve in New York City. Medical experts declared that the … Continue reading Her Skull Speaks
Captured and Exposed 