It’s pretty much common knowledge these days (or at least it should be) that women play an integral role in enforcing the law around the country. Unfortunately, this has not always been the case. To think that even before women had the right to vote, they were taking up police positions all over the USA, is quite remarkable. However, there were a lot of people who found this idea—women as law enforcement officers—to be absolutely ridiculous. Check out this cartoon from an 1887 issue of Judge Magazine to see what other “crazy” things some people were afraid would happen if women got their rights. Thankfully, the skeptics were sorely mistaken, and women have the last laugh.
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The cartoon was published in 1887 in response to women in Kansas being the first in the nation allowed to exercise suffrage in municipal elections. Kansan women were not, however, allowed to exercise full voting rights in federal elections until 1912. Kansas was the eighth state to pass this legislation, building up to the ratification of the 19th amendment in 1920 that granted all American women the right to vote.