Chicago claims first policewoman, 1890s.

"Chicago's beautiful
policewoman, who
handcuffs her prisoners
with a winning smile
and takes them to
lockup on a streetcar."
Washington Times
magazine 22 Apr 1906

The Washington Post reprints a Chicago Tribune piece on Marie Owens, who, if the evidence is substantiated, would be the first policewoman in the United States. Owens began her work in 1891; previous documentation dates women in the police force to 1913.