Marie Owens

Marie Owens (December 21, 1853 – June 1927; born Marie Connolly[1] aka Marie Connolly Owens) is believed to have been the first female police officer in the U.S. and the first female police officer in the Chicago Police Department, in 1891, retiring in 1923. Holding the rank of Sergeant, Owens enforced child labor and welfare laws. She was born and raised in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, the daughter of Irish immigrants.[3]

Marie Owens
Chicago Police Department, Officer Marie Owens, photograph portrait, from the Chicago-Daily Tribune newspaper, October 28, 1906
Born
Marie Connolly[1]

(1853-12-21)December 21, 1853[1]
Ottawa, British Canada now Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
DiedJune 1927(1927-06-00) (aged 73)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Resting placeCalvary Cemetery
NationalityCanadian, American
Other namesMrs. Marie Owens
Sergeant No. 97[2]
OccupationPolice officer
Known forFirst female police officer, in the U.S. and the first female police officer in the Chicago Police Department, in 1891
SpouseThomas Owens (d. 1888)

Career

Prior to working with the police, she was one of five female health inspectors employed in the city health department in 1889.[3] When employed with police she reported to Capt. O’Brien. In 1901 the Chicago Tribune described her position: "So Mrs. Marie Owens became 'Sergeant No. 97,' with the salary, star, and rating of a special police officer ... All over the city does this work take 'Sergeant No. 97'; from all parts of the working world come requests for her assistance, complaints for her investigation ... 'Sergeant No. 97' never invokes the string arm that is back of her unless all gentler methods have been proved inefficient ... in all her fifteen years of police experience never has 'Sergeant No. 97' found it necessary to come to a direct clash with an employer; never yet has she made an enemy of a child or parent."[4]

Personal life

She had a younger brother named Brendan when she was seven years old.[5]

She married Thomas Owens in 1879[1] when she was approximately 26 years old.

While Marie was still in her twenties, she and her husband Thomas moved to Chicago. He died of typhoid in February 1888 when Marie was approximately 35 years old. She was left alone to raise five children.[3]

Marie named her first son after Charles Stewart Parnell.[6]

She had a daughter who she went to live with when she retired.

Owens' grave at Calvary Cemetery

Marie Owens died in New York City in June 1927, and was buried at Calvary Cemetery in Evanston, Illinois.[7]

See also

References
  1. Drusus, Livius (January 21, 2017). "Marie Connolly Owens, America's First Female Police Officer". Mental Floss. Marie Connolly was born the daughter of Irish famine immigrants in Bytown (later renamed Ottawa), on December 21, 1853. She married gas fitter Thomas Owens in 1879
  2. "Enforcement of the Child Labor Law". Chicago Tribune. July 28, 1901. So Mrs. Marie Owens became 'Sergeant No. 97,' with the salary, star, and rating of a special police officer .. All over the city does this work take 'Sergeant No. 97'; from all parts of the working world come requests for her assistance, complaints for her investigation .. 'Sergeant No. 97' never invokes the string arm that is back of her unless all gentler methods have been proved inefficient .. in all her fifteen years of police experience has 'Sergeant No. 97' found it necessary to come to a direct clash with an employer; never yet has she made an enemy of a child or parent
  3. Mastony, Colleen (September 1, 2010). "Was Chicago home to the country's 1st female cop? Researcher uncovers the story of Sgt. Marie Owens". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on September 3, 2010. Owens was the daughter of Irish famine immigrants
  4. "Enforcement of the Child Labor Law". Chicago Tribune. July 28, 1901.
  5. "I am Marie Owens". Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum.
  6. Mastony, Colleen (September 1, 2010). "Was Chicago home to the country's 1st female cop?". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
  7. "Owens". Chicago Tribune. June 11, 1927. p. 12. Retrieved December 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
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