THE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTLXAND. . SUNDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 21, , 1920.
Women Whose Task Is
Directing the Life of Fellow
Beings Into Wholesome
Channels Where the Light
i From Home Firesides
Is Bright. Their Measures
Are Protective and
Preventative.
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By Earl C. Brownlee ,
I VEN the . "smart" boy and his
automobile, the average , publie
dance hall and public swimming
place, add the average jazz music
and you have, if you are mathema
tician enough to figure with f the
aoula of little girls and foolish -women,
nine, tenths of the - great
problem the : women's ' protective
division of the department of pub
lic safety of .the city of Portland is
fighting day and night to solve.
That idealized condition In mod
ern law enforcement which upholds
the principle that, accused persons
are innocent until, proved guilty;
that ; human doctrine that preven
tion of crime is the valorous part
of law enforcement these are the
foundation stones upon which the
division has been built, so that
last year it was capable of deal
ing with 038 cases of female de
linquency in one form or -another.
There are four primary causes
for the deliquency of Portland
girls, Mrs. J. Q. Frankel, superin
tendent of the division, will tell you '
if you probe the, workings rf the
department at whose head she has
been for the last two and a half
years. The causes are those men
tioned above: the unbridled boy
and his automobile, the average
dance hall, the average swimming
pool and jazz music. The latter, .
Mrs. Frankel will point out, is the
minor cause, and an indirect one, '
since it is more the "Jazzy" envi
ronment that accompanies such
music than the syncopated strains
themselves that lead to evil path
ways. Under the direction of the Trav
elers' aid of the T. W. C.-A., the
first protective and , preventive
work among Portland women was
started in 1905. The basis built by
the T. W. C. A. ; was absorbed by
the city government in 1908 as a
part of the department of public
safety - and Mrs. Lola G. Baldwin
was placed in charge.: Mrs. Bald
win retains that charge, but on ian
extended leave of absence, daring
, which she has undertaken . very
similar work for the federal gov
ernment, Mrs. Frankel is the ac
tive head of the organization..
It is a serious offense to brand
one of the 12 members of ' Mrs.
Frankel's force as a' 'police
woman," for they are hot that,-in
tljte strict sense of! the terra. They
ajre "operatives," though they have
full police power and wear a con
cealed star. Their exercise 'of ar
resting authority is confined to
emergencies and they do not wear
uniforms.
Each operative has passed a civil
service test and has posted a bond
of $1000 to assure the faithful per- .
formance of her duty in protection'
of women, prevention of crime and
education against law violation.
In the "run" of its work the
division seeks, first, to prevent
crime where possible, ,or, second,
to protect woman against a repeti
tion" of her offense against the
statutes. : .
"We are working," Mrs. Frankel
points out, "to create a " finer,
keener conscience: not to punish.",
The staff of 12 includes the su
perintendent, a secretary and 10
operatives, five doing day work and
a similar number working at night.
The division " cooperates fully ' with
evwy other department In the gov
ernment of the city and state and
does a staggering amount of work
on Its wn behalf. The day oper-
tow--: ;
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i atives Investigate ' cases, answer
j emergency calls," prepare court
cases,' interview, women taken to
j Jail and attend . them ' in court,
I where the average woman has no
other friend.
j ' Five night workers make invest!-"
1 gations, visit all places of amuse
I ment, cover street "beats," observe
the meanderings of dapper youths
! and keep a weather ' eye always '
I open for. the boys and men : who :
drive about town "picking .up.
young girls for joy rides," as Mrs.
; Frankel says. .. . ,
Some of the -cases the division
operatives report from , source's
where such things ', would . seem
j least probable, make col blood.
j boil and make the Bolshevik! seem
I a trifling - trouble by comparison.
That may best be indicated, per-
I haps, by extracts from Mrs. Frank
el's report for last year, which. In
j the absence 'Of a complete report
for 1920, is representative:
The division handled 203S cases.
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against which complaint had been
filed by at least one of 17 agencies'
which cooperate with the division.
Of these cases 129 were incorri
gible girls, 237 were immoral, 503
were suspicious persons, 309 were
involved in domestic troubles, 39
were lnsane, 27-were sick,: 291 were
runaways or , "missins from home" .
cases and the remainder were mis
cellaneous cases" Involving the de
cidedly criminal. ' ; " ".'Tw
A minimum v number of cases
,wre concluded by commitment to
jails, and the disposition of cases
shows that scores of them, were
placed . in proper ' corrective
"homes" and schools and in em
. ployment where the advice of the
mothers who - compose the di
vision staff could vbear fruit in
their lives. ,
" In the one year operatives visited
728 dance halls," including, of
- course, - repeat visits; 895 grill
. rooms, 725 amusement places and
. spent a total of 806 hours on street
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3eRKA. staff
duty. In the same period opera
tives visited 106 0 homes. 1242, of
fices and hotels and .held 3692 in
terviews with girls and women who
needed advice. The division, pro
vided lodging in 47 cases and meals
In 597 cases, at a total cost to the
taxpayers, who are eventually ben
efited, of 3160.62. Operatives saw
81 of their "clients" married with
in the year, too. .
The division is working in more
or less direct . opposition to tb
uniformed police, whose task' it is
to bring ! law violators .'to Justice.
All of which is perfectly proper In
the eyes of the women's division,
but it puts a different light on its
own duties and seeks, especially in
the cases of Juvenile girls, to keep
as many as possible out of Juvenile
court. In fact, every . possible ad
justment of each case is made with
this object in view. '' i
Because of their public nature
and J the difficulty managers ' find s
in keeping "personal check on every
guest, the hotels come into the at
tention of the .division's operatives
frequently. Hotel managers -will
do most anything the division asks
before 4 they ;will submit their
houses to the unpleasant publicity
that concentrated activity against
loose morals, and freely ' flowing
liquor would cause., ,,
. This condition does exist and to
counter' it the women of the di-
vision, when they find a violation
of the normal moral or legal code,
discard; the bombastic, domineer
ing practices of their contempo
rary' male bluecoats and the case
is settled so quietly and thoroughly
that perhaps none but the man
ager and the operatives know what
has been done.
"Hotel managers could lessen the
need for this division a great deal
If they would protect men and
womeil by demanding a high stand
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ard of conduct in each house," Mrs.'
Frankel declares.
"This division carries two sepa
rate and distinct lines of work.
First, the good girl who needs our
advice, assistance and protection,
and, second, the girl who has
transgressed the law in some man
ner and' who has a desire to do
better.
"For instance, 474 girls applied
to us in 1919 voluntarily for ad
vice and ' help. We advised and
aided 440 of them . here and the
, others we referred to the proper
agencies. h . -
"Our policy is not to bring girls
and women into jail, nor even into
court, but to prevent the commit
ment of the act that would lead to
jail and court. Givln a first of-,
fense to deal with, we try to avoid
a second offense.
"Our records here show that a
woman falls into evil ways men
tally and morally through love, to.
be candid. Therefore, we accept
the belief that she can be redeemed
by love better than by law and .
tjiat phase, of its application that
leads to jail cells and unpleasant,
unquenchable notoriety.
"It is a fact apparently well es
tablished that a woman falls lower
into the mire of lawlessness and
sin than does man, because woman
is naturally on a higher plane in
her ideal.
"Many women feel, when they
" have once transgressed, that their
cases are hopeless. Who ever
beard tell of the man Who enter
tains such an idea? '
"The division has been scored at
times for answering anonymous
calls for investigation. While we
. do not welcome anonymity, we are
forced by circumstances to respond
and through such calls we have
. found some of the most flagrant
cases we have ever had to. deal
with. '
"But referring: back to our policy
tr of prevention and protection as
opposed to: detection and incarce
ration, it la not only my own opin
ft.
ion, but that of many others, that
our work is fundamentally differ
ent from that of the uniformed po
lice department and Its branches;
that the women's protective di
vision could do much better work
if we were not located at police
headquarters. i
"Many women and girls would
come to us voluntarily were it not
for the fact that they must come
through the man-crowded corri
dors 'of the police station, where,
usually without cause, she is em
barrassed and backward. We want,
girls and. women to solicit our help,
.and we would like a proper en-
vironment in which to receive all
manner of visitors who would come
to us. .
"We have found Chief of Police
Jenkins an excellent compatriot
and ally in our work, but the gen
eral atmosphere of a police station
cannot be overcome by his splendid
cooperation alone"
The division is supported entirely
by the city through its budget al
lotment for police work and, aside
from its office quarters at police
" headquarters, maintains two deten
tion rooms where Juvenile girls are
held.v when necessary, overnight.
There is no third degree -chamber,
no cells with immense Iron
bars, but an atmosphere as pleas
antly wholesome as conditions
amid such surroundings -will per
mit. There are no dignified uniforms
to awe the uninitiated and calm the
' hardened sinner; there are no glis
tening firearms to brandish in the
faces of culprits. Such things are
taboo where love supplants punish
ment, as far as humanly possible.
io rranted
Mrs. Frankel and her associate
have not been hardened to the
business of correction that they
Interpret their "police" duties to
be, and there is a great deal of
sympathy for human frailty and
youthful wrongdoing manifested in
the little staff that has undertaken
the huge job of preventing the deg
radation of girls whose greatest
crime is in having no home, no
mother and no care.
"'"vVe are seldom, if ever,, called
upon to redeem the girl who Is
reared within the glare of the
flames of a friendly firelight from
the home hearth." Mrs. Frankel
declares. "We insist that normal .
pleasures and moral perfection are
attainable in the atmosphere .of a'
real home, while it ts the slovenly
home, guided by a careless, 'negli
gent mother and an overindulgent
father, that is producing member
ship for our shoplifting clubs
among 12-year-old girls and men
tal and moral degeneracy among
young girls and women old enough
to know better on their own ac
counts, v.: -'-J: .
"Mothers who know where their
girls, are after school, after dinner
and, in fact, all the time, as moth
ers should,; very seldom have seri
ous' trouble with their daughters.
But woe is the lot of the fond par
ent who qverindulges the daugh
ter's habit of spending the night
with a girl friend. Half the time
mother doesn'tHtnow who the girl
friend is, and the rest of the time
she doesn't kndw that the best
place for any Juvenile, girl or boy,
after nightfall, Is at home. Joy
riding, public dancing and Jazzy:
atmospheres are not the proper
sports and environments of young
womanhood and they probably
never will be. .
"I am not giving you extracts
from a sermon, but statements on
actual conditions as we find them
right here in Portland right
where we can put our fingers on
them in absolute substantiation of
every charge we may make in our
desire to get all Portland girls back
within the, family circle, in their
own homes, where they belong."
" The women's protective division
comprises the following operatives,
as shown in the picture herewith,
reading from the left:
Mercedes Flint,- Martha Itondall,
Helen Burntrager, Myrtle Keiser,
Carry 8.: Turner, Louise H. Blake,
Elizabeth Moorad, assistant super
intendent; Sophie E, King, Mrs.
John F. Carroll and, seated, Mrs.
Frankel. i Mrs. Grace B. NJckerson,
dance hall inspector, and one of
12 operatives, la shown in Insert.
and where innocence
until guilt is proved.