During World War II, the New Castle County Workhouse was experiencing a prison guard staffing shortage. Men had left guard positions to go to war or take better-paying positions created during the war effort. On January 2, 1943, the warden of the New Castle County Workhouse, Elwood H. Wilson, placed a want-ad in the morning edition of the News Journal, looking for women aged 21-35 to be tower guards.
The Workhouse received applications from women throughout the state and surrounding states.
Women such as Grace Kreer, of Greenbank, and Harriet Cheeseman, of Wilmington, were hired based on their marksmanship and experience handling and firing firearms. They were expected to work 8-hour shifts in one of the three towers on the Workhouse grounds. According to the warden’s account, the women hired were all in their thirties, and most of them were married with children. They were paid $102 per month, $34 less per month than the male guards employed by the Workhouse.
In July of 1943, Warden Wilson told the News Journal that the experiment in hiring markswomen as tower guards was a resounding success. “These women guards have proven they are good shots; they have nerve and are alert, and they have orders to fire on sight at anyone attempting to scale the fence, and heaven help anyone who does try it.” Thus, making the New Castle County Workhouse the first prison in the country to employ armed women guards in its towers.
Warden Wilson, however, made a point of not publicly naming the women who were serving as guards to protect their anonymity. By reviewing the records kept by the workhouse, we can identify these pioneering women.
On July 17, 1943, ten of the female guards petitioned the warden for a pay raise.
The following month, the women received a pay increase from $102.00 per month to $110.00 per month.
Although few records survive to describe the women’s experiences working in the towers, an insurance report indicates that on September 28, 1943, tower guard Alma Dolan broke her finger after slipping on the tower steps.
In 1946, the records indicate that some of these women guards received notice of their dismissal, and men subsequently replaced their positions.
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