Bertha_Whedbee_first_African_American_woman_police_officer_in_Louisville_1922

Bertha Par Simmons Whedbee (1876 - 1960) was an activist,

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

, and first

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

woman to become a police officer in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

Biography

Whedbee was born as Bertha Par Simmons in

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

in 1879. She later became a

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

teacher, graduating from the first class of the Colored Kindergarten Association in 1901. She married a physician, Ellis D. Whedbee, in 1898. They moved to

and had four children together. Whedbee became involved in the

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

movement in Louisville. In 1919 Bertha Whedbee was inspired to become a

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

herself after local police officers arrested her 17-year-old son, Ellis Jr, as a

robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...

suspect. Later, the officers charged Ellis with disorderly conduct and a $10 fine. Whedbee didn't believe the charges and confronted the police about the charges, where she was then arrested and charged with a $10 fine as well. Bertha's fine was later suspended, but the fine for her son was upheld. The Whedbees filed a suit against the police station master. On March 3, 1922, she presented a petition that she be appointed a police officer. Whedbee went on to become the first African American woman to work for the

Louisville Metro Police Department The Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) began operations on January 6, 2003, as part of the creation of the consolidated city-county government in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It was formed by the merger of the Jefferson County Pol ...

when she started on March 22, 1922. Her mandate was to work only among other African Americans in the community. She worked on the police force until 1927 when she resigned in protest when the other African American officers were dismissed by a new city administration. Bertha Whedbee died in 1960. She was buried in Louisville Cemetery. There were no

headstone A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a stele or marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. It is traditional for burials in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions, among others. In most cases, it has the deceased's name, da ...

s for either Bertha or Ellis Sr. Whedbee until they were installed in 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whedbee, Bertha 1876 births 1960 deaths Activists from Louisville, Kentucky Louisville Metro Police Department officers African-American police officers African-American educators African-American women educators American suffragists Schoolteachers from West Virginia Suffragists from West Virginia