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subsequently appointed William P. Lawlor police commissioner, and Lawlor in
December 1937, appointed Mrs. Violet Hill Whyte to the Baltimore police forcer'

Parenthetically, it is interesting to review Whyte's background, to show the
kind of technical and social qualifications Jim Crow Baltimore required of its first
Black police officer. At forty years of age, she was a high school and college
graduate and worked as a teacher in the public school system. She was active in the
School of Christian Education, and advisory board member of the Civic League,
was the president of the Intercity Child Study Association, the executive secretary
of the Parent-Teacher Federation, and, significantly, a member of the Negro State
Republican League. In terms of family background, she was the daughter of Rev.
Daniel G. Hill, former pastor of Bethel AME Church, and the wife of a school
principal. One of here siblings was vice president of Howard University, and three
others were college instructors.  To say the least Baltimore's first police officer
came from a solidly middle to upper-middle-class background, was relatively well
educated, and was extremely well connected in community circles. Officer Whyte
was assigned to northwest Baltimore to work with Black "delinquent" girls. In the
words of the Evening Sun, "A police-box key and a badge are the only marks of
authority" that Whyte carried. Baltimore was not yet ready for an officer with a
uniform and a gun, even if she came from the upper layers of the Black

•1Q

community. °

The struggle for Black police did not end with Violet Whyte's appointment.
Demands were immediately raised for additional African American police. At this
point, Marse Callaway and his Maryland Colored Republican Voters' League got
into the act by opening a free school to train Black candidates for the police force.
Suspicions that the Republicans were using the police issue to hold on to Black
voters (Governor Nice was a Republican and Police Commissioner Lawlor was
publicly involved in Republican Party politics) did not keep others in the coalition