We thank our BPD resident historian Margaret Sullivan – for painstakingly gathering information over many years:
In 1920, as women gained the right to vote and the Boston Police Department was recovering from the strike of 1919, Governor Calvin Coolidge signed legislation stating women would be eligible for appointment at the discretion of the police commissioner. A civil service exam was held for 94 candidates. Six women between 25 and 35 years of age were appointed on April 25, 1921.
Irene C. Lynch, Sabina J. Delaney, Lillian A. Taylor, Irene McAuliffe, Margaret M. McHugh, and Agnes J. Callahan were hired. Better educated than the average patrolman, these women had previously worked as a nurse, a social worker, a librarian, a telephone company supervisor, and a police officer in Washington, D.C. Several were military veterans. They had full arrest powers but were not issued uniforms, weapons, or vehicles. Armed only with a badge, they relied on their wits and on each other.
These six “patrolmen” originally worked cases involving women and children, including patrols in dance halls and undercover work in speakeasies. Soon they were conducting their own investigations. Margaret McHugh was particularly adept at recovering stolen goods, including a diamond ring President Roosevelt had given to his assistant. Irene McAuliffe traveled around the country in pursuit of female fugitives. Irene Lynch Bombach placed second on the sergeant’s exam, but was never promoted because her husband was also a patrolman and the Police Commissioner feared causing “discord in the home.”
These photos show five of the original six, the Commissioner’s Records show the appointment of women, and the ledger shows their signatures after taking their oath. It was administered by BPD Captain Thomas Ryan, a veteran of the Civil War.
