Alice Stebbins Wells free essay sample

Homer P. Stebbins taught Latin in the Oberlin schools, and later established and edited the first newspaper in Hiawatha, Kansas. Alice Stebbins Wells attended public schools in Atchison, Kansas, as well as graduating from a high school there. After graduating school Alice spent several years with a business career in the Middle West, New York, and New England. In 1900 at age 27 she became pastor’s assistant for Dr. Newell Dwight Hillis in Plymouth Church, in Brooklyn N. Y. Alice spent two years at the Hartford, Connecticut, Theological Seminary, specializing in Old Testament history with the intention of giving lectures on â€Å"The Message of the Prophets for Today. † While attending the seminary she spent two vacations filling summer pulpits in Congregational Home Missionary churches in Maine, thereby becoming the first woman preacher in that state. She then went on and gave her lecture at bible schools and many churches throughout the East and Middle West, including Oklahoma. We will write a custom essay sample on Alice Stebbins Wells or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page While in Oklahoma, Alice married Frank Wells, a member of a pioneer Wisconsin family. Mr. and Mrs. Wells had three children, Ramona, Raymond, and Gardner. Frank eventually became ill which lead to her return to the professional field as a social worker. In May, 1910, at the age of 37 having moved to Los Angeles, Mrs. Wells conceived the idea and undertook the work of securing the enactment of legislation creating the office of policewoman in this city. Since 1890 many California cities employed women as â€Å"matrons† or â€Å"workers. These women specialized in the care of female prisoners. They also worked in city and county prisons as well as other penal institutions. Her first day as police women Mrs. Well’s was given a Gamewell key which is also known as a telephone call box. She was also given a first aid book and a â€Å"policeman’s badge. † When Mrs. Well’s displayed her badge to be able to ride the trolley cars for free like the rest of he r fellow officers, the conductor accused her of misusing her husband’s identity. This was later fixed by giving her the very first â€Å"policewomen’s badge number one. Alice wanted to provide better aid to women and children who had been victims of crime,  so she petitioned the mayor, police commissioner and the L. A. City Council to become the departments first policewoman. Her petition was successful, and throughout her nearly-30-year career, Wells was a pioneer in preventive protection methods for youth. Originally assigned as a juvenile probation officer, she later was also tasked with enforcing laws concerning dance halls, skating rinks, penny arcades and movie theaters –  places, in other words, where children would be present. The Women Police Officers Association of California claims that the present-day LAPD can trace its juvenile bureaus and crime prevention units directly to the foundation laid by Wells. Once Wells was issued Policewomans Badge Number One, her first duties included the suppression of unwholesome billboard displays, searches for missing persons, and the maintenance of a general information bureau for women seeking advice on matters within the scope of police departments, according to the LAPD website. This was such an innovation and a widening of the field for women, as well as helpful in character building for women and children, that interest was immediately aroused and in response to many appeals she lectured in scores of cities in the United States and Canada. Alice Stebbins Wells fought for the idea that women, as regular members of municipal police departments, are particularly well-qualified to perform protective and preventative work among juveniles and female criminals, according to the LAPDs history. 928, Wells was appointed president of the Womens Peace Officers Association of California she also became the LAPDs historian six years later. - All in all, the struggle goes on. Alice Stebbins Wells is one out of many success stories. From Boston to Los Angeles, it’s stories like these that are creating monuments for American women everywhere. Alice has been the leader in many movements of importance to the human race