Leola King, America’s First Female Traffic Cop

It’s a big city policewoman directing traffic. Her name is Leola N. King, America’s first female traffic cop. These pictures were taken in Washington D.C, somewhere between 1918 and 1920.

In 1918, thirty female traffic officers were hired in Washington D.C. Leola was one of the first to hit the street. Her job kept things moving in the nation’s capital. At that time, horse-drawn carriages were still in use, and early cars were still sparse but catching on. Henry Ford’s Model T made its debut around 1908.

News reports indicate that she was later injured after being struck by a passing truck. There are later records of Private King when she was assigned to the Women’s Bureau under Lieutenant Mina Van Winkle.

In that assignment Private King investigated dance halls, complaints of child neglect and spousal abuse into the early 1920s.