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Friday, August 13, 2010

Betty our Police Lady Story tellers Week 5 and Sepia Saturday Week 36 (click here to get to others' photos)

Miss Betty Hoover our Police Lady

I am rerunning Betty here for the Story tellers; If you have been to Southern Belle, you know there is a tale to tell and many of my previous posts onto Sepia Saturday are tales to share.  So out of time to create something new today I offer you Betty and my frustrated attempts to be a resident Nancy Drew!

Sorting and sifting photos continues here where this week I found this old snapshot of Betty Hoover who was perhaps one of the first if not the first police woman in our town.  We called her, " Miss Betty Our Police Lady" and she was employed as a crossing guard, today's term,  at our elementary school, Third Ward.  This photo is from  about  1954, notice her spiffy uniform, high heels and white gloves.  She would step out into the street to direct traffic and allow us to cross.  Now that I think about it, I suppose this must have been invented employment, because we did not have that much traffic and when Miss Betty was not on her job, we walked and crossed streets quite nicely without any assistance.

My friends and I were fascinated with Miss Betty who lived with her friend, Wanda, in an apartment on the 3rd floor,  the remodeled attic of our neighbor's the Ropers.  They were the only single career women in our neighborhood.  Since the yard of the Ropers' backed up to  our back yard, I thought I could make myself quite available to her, by just  yelling, "Miss Betty" from our back yard.  My mother thought differently and the first time she heard me standing outside yelling, she scooted me onto the porch for a lecture.  I was not to bother Miss Betty and just because she rented from our neighbors did not mean that I could  bother her to satisfy my curiosity.  She was employed as  a Police woman and when she was not at work, she did not need the likes of me pestering her.

Not one to easily give up, I tried to engage Dayna, my  neighbor friend who lived on the other side of the Ropers to help in my efforts at learning more about Miss Betty but she was not as curious as me and besides, her mother felt the same, "You girls do not need to bother her."  I had a plan, Dayna's upstairs bedroom was closer to the Roper house, so if we could lean out Dayna's window and call, surely Miss Betty would hear us and if Dayna was calling and not me, my mother couldn't say anything.  But Dayna was no where near as interested and so much more the good girl than myself that it didn't happen.

I spent some time mulling about this and trying to overcome my Mother's admonishments without being absolutely disobedient. I suddenly became very interested in Harry Roper, their son, who was several years older than me (I was 9 and he was likely 13) and tried all sorts of ways to entice him into inviting me into their home; once inside I figured it would be easy enough to scoot up the staircase and knock on Miss Betty's door. That did not work, because Harry as I said was older than me and besides that totally uninterested in my antics. I think he secretly knew I was the one who would pelt him with crab apples, but he never could  prove that.  I could get onto our porch roof  near the crab apple tree outside my bedroom window, toss crab apples and whack him on the head, then duck back into my bedroom window, innocent as you please. 

My curiosity was not waning, so one day after school, I hung around the corner and confessed to Miss Betty that I would like to see their apartment but my mother said I was not to bother her, but I had this big tale about needing to interview her for a Girl Scout project. She and I walked the  few blocks back to  our homes together and Miss Betty said that she would speak to my Mom and if it was alright with her she would invite me in  for a soda.  It never happened and I suspect that my mother nixed it or maybe Miss Betty was not that interested.  I don't know  what ever happened but Miss Betty and Wanda moved away after several months and I was out of luck.  Maybe they really didn't want to live in a neighborhood of families either.

I had not thought of her for  many years, but  talking to  some of my friends  from those days, we all remember Miss Betty.  I however have the only photo. I don't know why we had a police woman because it was a lovely 'hood and you can see from her uniform she was nicely dressed and not set  to pursue or do much but direct traffic. 

As always, click on the title to get to the Sepia home page and find others who share their photos and or collections in this international community.  This now becomes a Story Tellers Tale for Week 5 as well.  Click here to get to the Story tellers site.

asouthernbellewithenorthernroots

23 comments:

  1. She certainly looks proud of the uniform - but I bet she hated wearing those shoes, if she had to stand around for long!

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  2. Quite a mysterious character, Miss Hoover. I wonder if she continued to be a police lady after she moved?

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  3. Thats a very interesting story from a curious young girl. I wonder what happened to her? If she stayed single or married?
    The mysterious Miss Betty..

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  4. perhaps there was more to BETTY and WANDA than you could imagine, or maybe it was mere speculation on your mother's part and the neighbors, but they aimed at keeping you away from these folks. though i see nothing wrong with that, but such was the mentality at the time...
    :)~
    HUGZ

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  5. Ticklebear, I thought about that too as I was posting this; certainly any other relationship would not have been talked about nor appreciated back there then...I imagine that if the mothers of our 'hood had any speculation they would have acted just as they did.

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  6. Isn't it interesting how we sometimes have one photograph of an individual that sparks so many memories. It seems that you were certainly dedicated to your goals!

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  7. those careergirls were often seen as threats, a little too free to capture the neighbors' husbands, or being of a different "persuasion"... otherwise, they would have been taken into the community and someone would have acted as matchmaker to find them proper suitors...

    in those days, such things were not talked about but merely hinted at. if such was the case, i can only imagine your mother's dismay at your persistent curiosity...
    :D~

    it's a pity that these women didn't get the respect they deserved simply because they didn't conform to their society's expectations...

    HUGZ

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  8. A great photo and a fun story. I remember the crossing guards at some of my children's schools and most of them were women. Of course that was in the 60's and 70's and not unusual. I was always glad they were there. Things sure have changed in this age of such paranoia. Can never feel completely safe any more, it seems.
    QMM

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  9. Pat, never mind about Miss Betty, it sounds to me as if Miss Pat was up to all sorts of shenanigans...pelting neighbor boys with crab apples no less. It's a wonder Miss Betty didn't arrest you.

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  10. A fascinating post and a mystery.. .

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  11. I loved this post about Miss Betty and your antics to get to know more about her!
    Thanks for visiting my blog - about your school friend with the Boniface surname, I belong to the Boniface Internet Group http://www.surnameroundup.com/boniface/ and it seems that all those with the Boniface surname can trace their family back to Sussex although all of the lines are not necessarily related.

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  12. It sounds like the only crime in the neighborhood was that bad girl pelting the apples. Miss Betty should have arrested you!

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  13. It is a very interesting story. People who cross your path in life and you always wonder what happened to them. Great blog.

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  14. Fascinating story, Pat, and again a wonderful personal recollection to have shared. Thanks.

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  15. A great story, sparked off by what is a classic sepia print. Questions we will never have the answers to are no less questions worth asking.

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  16. Now c'mon Barbara & Nancy, you need to know I was the darling of the neighborhood, never would have been suspected of getting out onto the roof and pelting Harry Roper! Not "Patty" He had no proof, but I think he suspected moi! I will have to post sometime about that roof and how I who have an unnatural fear of heights at times, became so brave as to crawl out there to my "secret place." Wish I had a photo of that roof...

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  17. .......And You Were A Thwarted Detective!

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  18. Tony, I read every Nancy Drew book and always did fancy myself doing some kind of detective work! Hadn't considered it but maybe that was part of my fascination with a policewoman, the possible intrigue, though I doubt there was much of that at the intersection to the school!

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  19. A great tale, well told. We are all curious about her now. I hope she had a long and happy life somewhere and didn't have to wear high heels every day.

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  20. oooh, you were naughty, throwing crab apples at that boy. I am afraid I can identify with that.
    This is a wonderful story! I wish you were able to visit her and get the scoop, I love the photo and what a lovely way of writing you have. Thank you so much for sharing with us!

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  21. What a wonderful story! It would be interesting to find out what happened to her and why she got the job. Very enjoyable. Jean

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  22. Would it be rash to have some suspicion about the police chief? We had a reported incident where our "chief" brought a very attractive female arrestee home "for questioning?"
    Tom

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