Lola Greene Baldwin | |
|---|---|
 Lola Baldwin in 1915 | |
| Born | Aurora Greene[1] 1860 |
| Died | (aged 97)[2] |
| Resting place | River View Cemetery[3] |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Police officer |
| Employer | City of Portland |
| Title | Superintendent of the Women's Protective Division |
| Spouse | LeGrand M. Baldwin |
| Children | Myron, Pierre |
Aurora "Lola" Greene Baldwin (1860 – June 22, 1957) was an American woman who became one of the first policewomen in the United States. In 1908, she was sworn in by the City of Portland as Superintendent of the Women's Auxiliary to the Police Department for the Protection of Girls (later renamed the Women's Protective Division), with the rank of detective.[4]
Baldwin grew up in Rochester, New York, and taught in nearby public schools. She relocated to Lincoln, Nebraska, where she taught, then married. She, her husband, and their two sons later lived in several U.S. cities, where Baldwin engaged in volunteer social work related to unwed mothers and other young women in trouble. In 1904, when Baldwin was 44, the family moved to Portland, where her husband continued his dry goods career.
Women's groups such as the Travelers Aid Society, concerned that the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition, scheduled for 1905 in Portland, posed a danger to single women working at the fair, hired Baldwin to supervise a project to protect girls and women. Success at the fair led to similar work thereafter, and eventually to her hiring in 1908 as a police officer. Throughout her policing career, Baldwin stressed crime prevention and favored reform over incarceration. She promoted laws to protect women, advised other jurisdictions about women's law-enforcement issues, and demonstrated by example that women could be effective police officers. After her retirement from the police in 1922, she gave public lectures for the Oregon Social Hygiene Society and served on the board of the Hillcrest School of Oregon, the Oregon Parole Board, and the National Committee on Prisons and Prison Labor. Baldwin, sometimes referred to as a "municipal mother", died in Portland on June 22, 1957, at the age of 97.
- ^ Myers, Gloria E. "Lola Greene Baldwin (1860–1957)". The Oregon Encyclopedia. Portland State University. Archived from the original on January 21, 2019. Retrieved March 7, 2014.
- ^ "Death Takes Mrs. Baldwin". The Oregonian (obituary). Portland, Oregon. June 24, 1957. p. 13.
- ^ "River View Cemetery: Historical View, 1957". River View Cemetery. Archived from the original on June 25, 2018. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
- ^ Corsianos, Marilyn (2009). Policing and Gendered Justice: Examining the Possibilities. Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press. p. 5. ISBN 978-0-8020-9679-1. Archived from the original on January 31, 2021. Retrieved December 14, 2020.