women pioneers

As we learned in yesterday’s blog, Sarah B. Schaeffer was a prominent woman of the early Minneapolis Police Department.

Mrs. Schaeffer was preceded in her role by Emma Louise Paine who was City Jail Matron from 1889 – 1901. Additionally, Mary McGuire was appointed as the Minneapolis Workhouse Matron in 1892 and served in that capacity for several years.

In the photograph above are pictured the three women of the 1921 Minneapolis Police Department, from left to right: Detective Etta Tollefson; an unidentified officer whose name is currently under research by the museum; and Officer Georgiana Sharrot.

Detective Etta Tollefson (left) was appointed by Chief J. F. Walker. She was in command of the “Street Mothers” as women officers were sometimes titled in the early 20th Century when their duties were primarily concentrated on the prevention of juvenile delinquency.

Officer Georgiana Sharrot (right) served in the role of “Street Mother” from 1914 until her death in 1938 when she succumbed to injuries received while on duty five months earlier. At the time of her death, Officer Sharrot was the fourth woman in law enforcement in the United States to have been killed in the line of duty.

Photograph courtesy of the National Police Journal: August 1921, Volume 8