Bertha Whedbee

{{Short description|African-American suffragist and police officer}} [[File:Bertha_Whedbee_first_African_American_woman_police_officer_in_Louisville_1922.webp|thumb|Bertha Whedbee first African American woman to become a police officer in Louisville 1922]] '''Bertha Par Simmons Whedbee''' (1876 - 1960) was an activist, [[Suffrage|suffragist]], and first [[African Americans|African American]] woman to become a police officer in [[Louisville, Kentucky]].

== Biography == Whedbee was born as Bertha Par Simmons in [[West Virginia]] in 1879.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|date=2020-03-01|title=Bertha Whedbee|pages=E6|work=The Courier-Journal|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/92988349/the-courier-journal/|access-date=2022-01-19|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Bertha P. Whedbee (1876-1960)|url=https://www.lwvky.org/significant-women-in-kentucky-history-2/bertha-whedbee|access-date=2022-01-19|website=League of Women Voters of Kentucky|date=25 April 2020 |language=en-US}}</ref> She later became a [[kindergarten]] teacher, graduating from the first class of the Colored Kindergarten Association in 1901.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Bertha Whedbee|url=https://kcaah.org/women-in-history/bertha-whedbee/|access-date=January 19, 2022|website=Kentucky Center for African American Heritage|date=25 February 2021 }}</ref><ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite news|date=1901-06-19|title=Six Graduates|pages=8|work=The Courier-Journal|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4372896/bertha-whedbee/|access-date=2022-01-21|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> She married a physician, Ellis D. Whedbee, in 1898.<ref name=":2" /> They moved to [[Louisville, Kentucky]] and had four children together.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Dr. Ellis Whedbee|url=https://networks.h-net.org/dr-ellis-whedbee|access-date=2022-01-19|website=Humanities and Social Sciences Online}}</ref> Whedbee became involved in the [[Women's suffrage in the United States|women's suffrage]] movement in Louisville.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-10-22|title=African American Women and Suffrage in Louisville|url=https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/770f9123d9584795916a12282bdf0865|access-date=2022-01-21|website=ArcGIS StoryMaps|language=en}}</ref>

In 1919 Bertha Whedbee was inspired to become a [[police officer]] herself after local police officers arrested her 17-year-old son, Ellis Jr, as a [[robbery]] suspect.<ref name=":2" /> Later, the officers charged Ellis with disorderly conduct and a $10 fine.<ref name=":2" /> Whedbee didn't believe the charges and confronted the police about the charges, where she was then arrested and charged with a $10 fine as well.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite news|date=1919-05-04|title=Negro Boy's Mother Arrested When She Demands His Release|pages=2|work=The Courier-Journal|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/93137479/the-courier-journal/|access-date=2022-01-21|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> Bertha's fine was later suspended, but the fine for her son was upheld.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1919-05-10|title=Negro Boy is Fined for Abusing Police|pages=16|work=The Courier-Journal|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/93137637/the-courier-journal/|access-date=2022-01-21|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=1919-05-21|title=One Policeman Is Fine and Another Cleared by Board|pages=14|work=The Courier-Journal|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/93137854/the-courier-journal/|access-date=2022-01-21|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> The Whedbees filed a suit against the police station master.<ref name=":2" /> On March 3, 1922, she presented a petition that she be appointed a police officer.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last=Childress|first=Morton O.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qPa5vHU470YC&dq=%22bertha+whedbee%22&pg=PA71|title=Louisville Division of Police: History & Personnel|date=2005|publisher=Turner Publishing Company|isbn=978-1-59652-060-8|location=Paducah, Kentucky|pages=71|language=en}}</ref> Whedbee went on to become the first African American woman to work for the [[Louisville Metro Police Department]] when she started on March 22, 1922.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2007-02-01|title=Famous Firsts: Law Enforcement|pages=B1|work=The Courier-Journal|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/27911085/black-history-month-bertha-whedbee/|access-date=2022-01-19|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=1922-03-23|title=Negro Policewoman is Appointed in Louisville|pages=12|work=Lexington Herald-Leader|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/92989983/lexington-herald-leader/|access-date=2022-01-19|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref name=":3" /> Her mandate was to work only among other African Americans in the community.<ref name=":3" /> She worked on the police force until 1927 when she resigned in protest when the other African American officers were dismissed by a new city administration.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Mattingly|first1=Carol|url=https://www.cavehillcemetery.com/assets/pdfs/news/louisville%20women%20and%20the%20suffrage%20movement-%20100%20years%20of%20the%2019th%20amendment%20%281%29.pdf|title=Louisville Women and the Suffrage Movement: 100 Years of the 19th Amendment|last2=Allen|first2=Ann Taylor|last3=Luken|first3=Alexandra A.|last4=Dietz|first4=Collen M.|publisher=Cave Hill Heritage Foundation|year=2020|location=Louisville, Kentucky|pages=23|language=en}}</ref>

Bertha Whedbee died in 1960.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1960-05-01|title=Kentuckiana Deaths|pages=75|work=The Courier-Journal|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4372687/whedbee2/|access-date=2022-01-21|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> She was buried in [[Louisville Cemetery]].<ref name=":0" /> There were no [[headstone]]s for either Bertha or Ellis Sr. Whedbee until they were installed in 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hasch|first=Brooke|date=February 20, 2021|title=From Kindergarten to Cop {{!}} The story behind Louisville's first Black female police officer|url=https://www.whas11.com/article/news/local/black-history/the-story-behind-louisvilles-first-black-female-police-officer-moments-that-matter/417-000c6ce4-4a71-49bf-ab37-0ac055863fcf|access-date=2022-01-19|website=WHAS 11|language=en-US}}</ref>

== References ==  {{Reflist|30emk}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whedbee, Bertha}}  [[Category:1876 births]] [[Category:1960 deaths]] [[Category:Activists from Louisville, Kentucky]] [[Category:Louisville Metro Police Department officers]] [[Category:African-American police officers]] [[Category:African-American educators]] [[Category:African-American women educators]] [[Category:Schoolteachers from West Virginia]] [[Category:Suffragists from West Virginia]] [[Category:American women human rights activists]]