Women's Bureau of the Charleston Police Department
- Kendall John
- 3 minutes ago
- 2 min read
For Women's History Month, we are discussing the first women employed with the City of Charleston Police Department.
The Women’s Bureau of the Charleston Police Department was established in July 1922 as a division that focused on women’s welfare and gender-based crimes. Its first chief was Lottie S. Olney, who was also a major player in the bureau’s inception. She was a member of the U.S. Interdepartmental Social Hygiene Board when she called a meeting at the city’s Chamber of Commerce in April of 1922. Olney and Marion S. Flanders, a policewoman in Washington, D.C., and a member of the same board, presented their preliminary research and discussions to Mayor Stoney and then Chief of Police James R. Cantwell. The bureau was officially established in June 1922, with Olney as its first chief and Gracie Aimar McCown as assistant chief [1]. McCown was appointed chief on January 8, 1924 [2].
The Women's Bureau specialized in cases involving social work, then referred to as "social hygiene." This included criminalized social issues, such as domestic violence, juvenile delinquency, prostitution, disorderly conduct, and missing girls and women. This scope was typical of women's police divisions at the time, with many of its employees having backgrounds in social work [3, 4].
While this bureau was the only one in the state of South Carolina, it was a part of a larger movement occurring in the early 20th century that saw municipalities bringing women into roles within police departments in roles that blended corrections and Progressive Era social work. As mentioned before, Marion S. Flanders was part of the Women's Bureau, Metropolitan Police Department, Washington, D.C., founded in 1918. The City of Charleston Police Department Women's Bureau was a member of the International Policewomen’s Association, which was formed in 1915 as a global organization dedicated to combating sexual harassment and discrimination against women in police forces.
The Bureau was abolished a couple of years after the start of the Great Depression in April 1931 for economic reasons. Gracie Aimar McCown became secretary of the Detective Bureau until she retired in 1942. Lulu Cameron Collins passed away in 1929. Other staff members became matrons at the Police Department or moved on to other careers.
Sources
[1] Charleston Evening Post. 1922. “Policewoman Is Considered,” April 12.
[2] Charleston Police Department. 1925. Official History, Police Department of Charleston, S.C.: 27.
[3] Hutzel, Eleonore L. 1929. “The Policewoman.” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 146 (November): 104–14. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1017551.
[4] Upson, Lent D. 1929. “The International Association of Chiefs of Police and Other American Police Organizations.” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 146 (November): 121–27. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1017553.