Quick Facts
Biography
Georgia Ann Robinson (née Hill; May 12, 1879 – September 21, 1961) was an American police officer and community worker who was the first African American woman to be appointed a police officer at the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). She joined the force as a volunteer in 1916, having previously been active in community affairs, including her local NAACP branch; she was appointed an officer in 1919. She worked on juvenile and homicide cases, including referring women and girls to social agencies. Robinson founded the Sojourner Truth Home, a shelter for women and girls. Her police career ended when she permanently lost her sight after being injured by a prisoner. Robinson continued community activism, including the campaign to desegregate schools and beaches. She was married to Morgan Robinson, and had a daughter, Marian. She died in Los Angeles at the age of 82.
Early life
Georgia Ann Hill was born in Opelousas, Louisiana, on 12 May 1879. She was brought up first by an older sister, then in a convent. She moved to Kansas when she was 18, working as a governess. She married Morgan Robinson there, and the couple moved to Colorado, and then to Los Angeles.
Robinson was an active suffragist while a young woman in Colorado, and was a key organizer and office holder in the Los Angeles branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Career and community activism
In 1916, when the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) was facing a shortage of officers after many enlisted to fight in World War I, Robinson was recruited to leave her community work to join LAPD as a volunteer.
She was appointed to the position of police officer in 1919, the first African-American policewoman at the LAPD, and one of the first in the United States. Robinson's appointment is regarded as a landmark for a second reason, as "her duty, to refer young black women to social agencies rather than arrest them was one of the first attempts by the LAPD to provide services to the black community and dispel the idea that African Americans were naturally predisposed to crime".
Robinson worked on juvenile and homicide cases. She went on to found a shelter for women and girls called the Sojourner Truth Home.
Robinson's police career was cut short in 1928, when a prisoner banged her head into jail bars, causing a head injury so severe that she permanently lost her sight.
She continued community work and activism, supporting the shelter, continuing her involvement in the NAACP, and campaigning to desegregate schools and beaches.
Personal life
She married Morgan Robinson in Kansas, and they had a daughter, Marian. She is said to have often brought underprivileged women and children home with her for dinner. Robinson was interviewed by Ebony Magazine in 1954. She died in Los Angeles on 21 September 1961.