Bertha Whedbee

Bertha Par Simmons Whedbee (1876 - 1960) was an activist, suffragist, and first African American woman to become a police officer in Louisville, Kentucky.

Bertha Whedbee first African American woman to become a police officer in Louisville 1922

Biography

Whedbee was born as Bertha Par Simmons in West Virginia in 1879.[1][2] She later became a kindergarten teacher, graduating from the first class of the Colored Kindergarten Association in 1901.[3][2][4] She married a physician, Ellis D. Whedbee, in 1898.[2] They moved to Louisville, Kentucky and had four children together.[5] Whedbee became involved in the women's suffrage movement in Louisville.[6]

In 1919 Bertha Whedbee was inspired to become a police officer herself after local police officers arrested her 17-year-old son, Ellis Jr, as a robbery suspect.[2] Later, the officers charged Ellis with disorderly conduct and a $10 fine.[2] 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.[2][7] Bertha's fine was later suspended, but the fine for her son was upheld.[8][9] The Whedbees filed a suit against the police station master.[2] On March 3, 1922, she presented a petition that she be appointed a police officer.[10] Whedbee went on to become the first African American woman to work for the Louisville Metro Police Department when she started on March 22, 1922.[11][12][10] Her mandate was to work only among other African Americans in the community.[10] 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.[13]

Bertha Whedbee died in 1960.[14] She was buried in Louisville Cemetery.[1] There were no headstones for either Bertha or Ellis Sr. Whedbee until they were installed in 2018.[15]

References
  1. "Bertha Whedbee". The Courier-Journal. 2020-03-01. pp. E6. Retrieved 2022-01-19 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. "Bertha P. Whedbee (1876-1960)". League of Women Voters of Kentucky. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
  3. "Bertha Whedbee". Kentucky Center for African American Heritage. 25 February 2021. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
  4. "Six Graduates". The Courier-Journal. 1901-06-19. p. 8. Retrieved 2022-01-21 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Dr. Ellis Whedbee". Humanities and Social Sciences Online. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
  6. "African American Women and Suffrage in Louisville". ArcGIS StoryMaps. 2020-10-22. Retrieved 2022-01-21.
  7. "Negro Boy's Mother Arrested When She Demands His Release". The Courier-Journal. 1919-05-04. p. 2. Retrieved 2022-01-21 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "Negro Boy is Fined for Abusing Police". The Courier-Journal. 1919-05-10. p. 16. Retrieved 2022-01-21 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "One Policeman Is Fine and Another Cleared by Board". The Courier-Journal. 1919-05-21. p. 14. Retrieved 2022-01-21 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. Childress, Morton O. (2005). Louisville Division of Police: History & Personnel. Paducah, Kentucky: Turner Publishing Company. p. 71. ISBN 978-1-59652-060-8.
  11. "Famous Firsts: Law Enforcement". The Courier-Journal. 2007-02-01. pp. B1. Retrieved 2022-01-19 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. "Negro Policewoman is Appointed in Louisville". Lexington Herald-Leader. 1922-03-23. p. 12. Retrieved 2022-01-19 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. Mattingly, Carol; Allen, Ann Taylor; Luken, Alexandra A.; Dietz, Collen M. (2020). Louisville Women and the Suffrage Movement: 100 Years of the 19th Amendment (PDF). Louisville, Kentucky: Cave Hill Heritage Foundation. p. 23.
  14. "Kentuckiana Deaths". The Courier-Journal. 1960-05-01. p. 75. Retrieved 2022-01-21 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. Hasch, Brooke (February 20, 2021). "From Kindergarten to Cop | The story behind Louisville's first Black female police officer". WHAS 11. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
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