The “Annie Oakleys”: First Armed Female Prison Guards in the United States

Completed in 1901, the New Castle County Workhouse at Greenbank was the first penal institution in the United States to employ armed female guards. Nicknamed “Annie Oakleys” for their excellent shooting ability with the machine guns and rifles they carried, the women were first introduced to the Workhouse in 1943 as a solution to the […]

---

“Annie Oakleys” at the New Castle County Workhouse

The Delaware Public Archives dedicated a new historic marker at the New Castle County Workhouse last week honoring the women who worked at the Workhouse as armed guards during World War II.

---