By Mary O’KEEFE

In December 1947 Lorraine Curry was hired by the Glendale Police Dept. as one of its first “policewomen.” So many years later, GPD officers visited her on her 100th birthday. She served the department for 33 years and retired in 1980.

“She is still paying dues into the [Glendale] Police Officers Association as a member,” said GPD Sgt. Teal Metts.

Metts is the driving force behind the department’s museum, and he had a lot of questions for Curry as a living history resource, including what it was like to be a female in the department.

“She didn’t hold back,” Metts said. “She said it was difficult. Society told you [as a woman] your role is to be in the house and not wearing pants.”

In fact, during the first years on the police force, policewomen wore skirts, not pants. Women at the time were not in the field with policemen but worked in more of a clerical role; however, that did not mean they did not play an important role in the department.

Metts had a photo of Curry walking with another woman down one of the hallways at the station. He was pretty certain the woman was a prisoner but wasn’t sure who she was; the woman had her hands over face.

“[Curry] remembered who she was,” Metts said.

Curry was escorting the woman who was accused of killing her husband. Metts knew this case well; it revolved around a three-day argument over the raising of the couple’s young child. The woman reported being beaten by her husband and, in the end, she shot him.

Metts didn’t want to dominate all of Curry’s time though he had so many questions for her. After talking with her he was able to fill in some blanks in the museum’s scrapbook.

During many of the museum’s events, Metts creates a world for patrons that include going back into the history of the GPD. For one of these he recreated a policeman’s uniform, which just happened to be one from 1947. He wore that uniform when he visited Curry.

A decade or so after Curry became a policewoman department rules were changed and men and women were referred to as “officers.” She continued in the department and was at the detective level when she retired.

Metts continues to collect items for the museum, which is located in the lobby of the GPD station, though it has been closed due to the pandemic.

Anyone who would like to donate an artifact can bring it by the GPD station on Isabel Street or call the station at (818) 548-4911 and ask for Sgt. Teal Metts.