Pictures of a Suffragette Posed in Police Uniform to Illustrate Woman Police Concept, c.1909

“This is serious work and I do hope the newspapers will not try to make fun of it. I think police work is a great work.” Alice Stebbins Wells

In 1910, only 12 months after these pictures were taken, a thirty-seven-year-old Alice Stebbins Wells became the first female police officer in the United States, joining the Los Angeles Police Department. Six years later, Wells was appointed inaugural president of the International Association of Women Police. (via Mashable/ Retronaut)

(Photos: Library of Congress)