Isabella Goodwin (née Loghry) was an American police officer and the first female detective in New York City.
Isabella Goodwin Seaholm | |
|---|---|
_circa_1915.png) Isabella Goodwin, c.1915 | |
| Born | Isabella Loghry February 20, 1865 |
| Died | October 26, 1943 (aged 77–78) New York City, U.S. |
| Burial place | Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn |
| Occupation | American police officer. |
| Spouses |
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Biography
editIsabella Loghry was born in Greenwich Village, Manhattan in 1865[1] to James Harvey Loghry and Anna J. Monteith, who ran a restaurant and hotel on Canal Street. Around 1885, aged 19, she married John W. Goodwin, a police officer. The couple had six children, of which four survived.[1][2] Goodwin was widowed in 1896, when she was 30 years old.[3]
The New York City police department had only started hiring women (“police matrons") to look after female and child prisoners in 1881. When Goodwin applied for a job after her husband died, she had to pass an exam then was hired as a jail matron by then police commissioner Theodore Roosevelt, who later became the president of the United States.[4][1] It was a low paid position, making only $1000/year, and she only had one day off each month.[3][1] She served in this position for 15 years. During this time, she began going undercover to investigate crimes, and her mother watched her children.[5][1][6]
In 1912, there was a case involving a midday robbery where "taxi bandits" beat up two clerks and stole $25,000 in downtown Manhattan.[7] Even with 60 detectives assigned to the case, no one could solve the robbery.[1][8] The story was followed nationally, according to a New York Times article at the time. After going undercover, Goodwin cracked the case.[9][10][11] As a result, she was appointed as New York's first female detective and given the rank of 1st grade lieutenant.[5][3][12] Her salary was raised from $1000 to $2,250/year.[1] During her career, she specialized in exposing fortune tellers and swindlers.[8]
In 1921, she married[13] a man who was thirty years younger than her. She continued working after her marriage, which was not common at the time for a woman.[12][1] When she retired, she had worked for the NYC police department for thirty years.[1]
In popular media
edit- The book The Fearless Mrs. Goodwin by Elizabeth Mitchell was based on Goodwin's life.[5][14]
- In the television period drama series The Alienist, Dakota Fanning's character, Sara Howard, is also based on Goodwin's life.[10]
See also
edit- Mary Shanley - another woman NYPD detective
- Mary A. Sullivan - another woman NYPD detective who was head of the Policewomen's Bureau as well
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i Mullenbach, Cheryl (2016-05-01). Women in Blue: 16 Brave Officers, Forensics Experts, Police Chiefs, and More. Chicago Review Press. ISBN 9781613734254.
- ^ "Isabella Goodwin". www.familytreenow.com. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
- ^ a b c Hensley, Rebecca (2012-04-15). "In Your Face Women: Isabella Goodwin". In Your Face Women. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
- ^ Leslie's: The Woman Detective's Remarkable Work. Vol. 114, Part 1. Leslie-Judge Company. 1911. p. 566.
- ^ a b c Bellafante, Ginia (26 July 2018). "More Women Deserve Statues in New York. Here Are 10". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
- ^ Mitchell, Elizabeth (2011-08-17). The Fearless Mrs. Goodwin: How New York's First Female Police Detective Cracked the Crime of the Century. Byliner, Incorporated. ISBN 9781614520108.
- ^ "NYPD "Celebrates" Women's History Month With Incomprehensible Video". Retrieved 2018-08-10.
- ^ a b WHALEN, BERNARD; WHALEN, JON (2015-01-01). The NYPD's First Fifty Years: Politicians, Police Commissioners, and Patrolmen. Potomac Books, Inc. ISBN 9781612346571.
- ^ "Meet Isabella Goodwin, New York City's first female detective". Retrieved 2021-01-20.
- ^ a b Purdom, Gwendolyn. "The True Story Behind Dakota Fanning's Serial Killer Show, The Alienist". POPSUGAR Entertainment. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
- ^ "A Famous Woman Detective". Kingston Daily Freeman. XLI (277). September 7, 1912.
- ^ a b "Celebrating 170 Years of Lady Cops | Amy Stewart". www.amystewart.com. 28 August 2016. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
- ^ The Police Journal. 6–8. 1920.
{{cite journal}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ "7 Fearless Women Statues That Should Replace The Fictional, Infantilized 'Fearless Girl'". Gothamist. Archived from the original on 2018-08-02. Retrieved 2018-08-10.