Lola Greene Baldwin collection

Collection

Identifier: Coll 388

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Papers of Lola Greene Baldwin, Portland, Oregon's first policewoman, compiled by Marian E. Hays. Collection includes biographical materials; family papers; clippings; photographs; correspondence; and reports, including War Department reports (1915-1918) for the West Coast (Section 7) of the Commission on Training Camp Activities, Section on Women and Girls. Also included are a letter by Azalia E. Peet smuggled out of wartime Japan in 1939; materials relating to the Albertina Kerr Center; and two scrapbooks of newspaper clippings (1905-1962).

Dates

1827-1995

Creator

Baldwin, Lola Greene (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

The Oregon Historical Society owns the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners.

Biographical note

Lola Greene Baldwin moved to Portland, Oregon, with her husband, LeGrand Baldwin, in 1904, and quickly found unpaid work organizing Portland's Juvenile Court and with the YWCA Travelers' Aid program during the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition. She used her experience and connections to deftly create an unprecedented full-time paid position with the Portland Police Department as supervisor of the Women's Protective Division from 1908 until her retirement in 1922. As the nation's first policewoman, she contributed in numerous ways to efforts to improve social and moral conditions for women and girls. Baldwin drew from years of volunteer investigative experience with charitable organizations on the East Coast and her earlier career as a teacher. During World War I, Lola Baldwin supervised the West Coast (Section 7) of the War Department Commission on Training Camp Activities, Section on Women and Girls, reporting on social conditions and vice control near military camps. In her retirement, Baldwin remained an ardent advocate for women.