As the first female police officer in the United States, Marie Connolly Owens should be remembered and celebrated as a pioneer. Yet, her legacy has been largely forgotten—her achievements erased from history until modern researchers unearthed her remarkable story. She worked tirelessly to enforce child labor laws, tracked down absent fathers who abandoned their families, and often reached into her own meager pockets to help struggling mothers and children. Despite all of this, when she passed away in 1927, her obituary made no mention of her groundbreaking career, a stark reminder of how even pioneers can be forgotten.
Born on December 21, 1853, in Ottawa, Canada, Marie Connolly was the daughter of Irish immigrants who had fled the Great Hunger. Marie married Thomas Owens, and they moved to Chicago in search of a better future. But in 1888, tragedy struck: Thomas succumbed to typhoid fever, leaving Marie a widow with five children to support. Forced into the workforce at a time when job opportunities for women were scarce, she sought a position that would provide stability.
Her opportunity came in 1889 when Chicago passed an ordinance prohibiting the employment of children under 14. Believing that women inspectors could better handle matters related to children and families, the city appointed five female sanitary inspectors, including Marie Owens.
Marie approached her new role with equal measures of determination and compassion. Walking through the grimy factories of Chicago, she encountered children toiling in horrific conditions:
“The suffering due to the inability of the older members of the family to work is, indeed, pitiable. Children were found working in factories all over the city, the frail little things in many cases being under 7. The pittance of 75 cents or $1 a week, however, helped to buy food for a sick mother, though it was at the cost of health and education.”
Many children were forced to enter the workforce because their fathers had abandoned their families and refused to provide support. With ardent resolve, Owens relentlessly ferreted these men out and turned them in to the police, ensuring they were held accountable for their children’s well-being.
Marie personally assisted families in finding work, sometimes even helping them financially from her own pocket. Owens earned a reputation for her genuine care for children, tempered by a diplomatic approach toward parents and business owners that made her as respected and popular as one in her challenging role could be.
Owens’s dedication did not go unnoticed. In 1891, the newly appointed Chief of Police, Major Robert Wilson McClaughrey—himself a reformer interested in rehabilitating juvenile offenders—recognized her work. She was transferred to the Chicago Police Department, where she was granted full arrest powers and appointed Detective Sergeant No. 97: the first female police officer in U.S. history.
Marie continued to enforce child labor and compulsory education laws. But her work extended beyond enforcement. She built relationships with factory owners, persuading them to fund education programs for young workers.
As noted in a 1901 Chicago Tribune article, Owens was known for her gentle yet firm approach:
“Sergeant No. 97′ (Owens) never invokes the strong arm that is back of her unless all gentler methods have been proved inefficient.”
Captain John O’Brien, one of her superiors, was so impressed by Marie’s effectiveness that he remarked:
“Give me men like she is a woman,” he said, “and we will have the model detective bureau of the whole world.”
Owens retired from the Chicago Police Department in 1923 at age 69 after serving the public for 32 years. But when she passed away in 1927, her obituary made no mention of her groundbreaking contributions.
The story of Marie Owens was lost for nearly a hundred years until Rick Barrett, a former Drug Enforcement Administration agent and amateur historian, rediscovered her. Barrett spent over three years researching Owens. Explaining her disappearance from history, he noted:
“She wasn’t wealthy. She was Irish. She was Catholic…She had all of these strikes against her, and so they just wrote her off.”
For Irish Americans, Owens’s story is a powerful testament to determination, compassion, and courage—and a reminder of the need for Irish American Heritage Month.