Marguerite Walz used to be a part of a racist Twenties motion anxious jazz would erode “decency” and inspire race-mixing and promiscuity.
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The Philadelphia Police Division is creating a push to extend the choice of ladies in its ranks, with a pledge ultimate 12 months to spice up the rely of girls from 22{99d7ae7a5c00217be62b3db137681dcc1ccd464bfc98e9018458a9e2362afbc0} to 30{99d7ae7a5c00217be62b3db137681dcc1ccd464bfc98e9018458a9e2362afbc0} of sworn officials by way of the 12 months 2023. The dep. is already manner above the nationwide moderate (simply 12{99d7ae7a5c00217be62b3db137681dcc1ccd464bfc98e9018458a9e2362afbc0}). It’s additionally lately led by way of a lady, Commissioner Danielle Outlaw.
However the historical past of girls’s integration into the PPD is plagued by asterisks.
The primary lady to guide the dep.? Intervening time Commissioner Christine Coulter, who ascended to the location in 2019 best as a result of her predecessor stepped down after failing to reply to sexual harassment lawsuits.
That promotion-by-default got here a half-century after greater than a dozen federal proceedings pressured the Police Division to rent extra ladies. Within the past due Nineteen Seventies, then-Mayor Frank Rizzo’s management settled a swimsuit by way of Ofc. Penelope Brace, who leveraged her win to turn out to be the town’s first feminine detective.
And the primary lady to ever dangle a PPD badge used to be a racist prude who used to be afraid the unfastened dance kinds caused by the upward thrust of jazz song would result in race-mixing and promiscuity.
Scroll thru the thread below to listen to extra about Marguerite Walz, the notorious “dance cop” of Philadelphia within the Twenties.
[Ed note: Some of the information and clippings in the thread are sourced from the Association for Public Art, the Philadelphia Dance History Journal, and the PhillyHistory Blog.]