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Helen D. Pigeon

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Helen D. Pigeon
A young white woman with dark hair in a bouffant updo, wearing an academic cap and gown
Helen D. Pigeon, from the 1912 yearbook of Radcliffe College
BornJanuary 28, 1889
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedSeptember 26, 1945 (aged 56)
New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.
Occupation(s)Social worker, law enforcement official, criminal justice reformer

Helen Du Maresque Pigeon (January 28, 1889 – September 26, 1945) was an American social worker involved in law enforcement and criminal justice. She was executive secretary of the International Association of Policewomen in the 1920s. in the 1940s, she was executive secretary of the American Parole Association.

Early life and education

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Pigeon was born in Boston, the daughter of James Cogswell Du Maresque Pigeon and Emily A. Smith Pigeon.[1] Her father was a physician. She graduated from Radcliffe College in 1912,[2] and from the Simmons College of Social Work in 1917.[3] She pursued further studies at Clark University, St. Elizabeths Hospital, and Yale University.[4]

Career

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Pigeon worked for the United States Commission on Training Camp Activities,[5] and the American Red Cross. After World War I, she headed the Girls' Welfare Society of Worcester, and worked as a probation officer.[3] For the Pennsylvania Bureau of Corrections, she trained and supervised probation officers, and inspected correctional facilities. She also consulted for the Indiana Department of Public Welfare. She was a visiting instructor at George Washington University, the University of California, the University of Southern California, and the Pennsylvania State College.[4]

Pigeon was based in Washington, D.C., in the 1920s, as executive secretary of the International Association of Policewomen,[6] under the association's director, Mina Van Winkle.[7] She edited the association's publication, The Policewoman.[8]

Pigeon was interested in incorporating social work and mental health expertise into law enforcement and criminal justice work, especially in dealing with young offenders.[9][10] She suggested that policewomen have special opportunities for investigation and surveillance, beyond those available to uniformed male officers.[11] Emphasizing the value of prevention and intervention,[12] she wrote in 1927 that "the proper diagnosis, advice based on scientific knowledge, or reference to a social agency for protection at a crucial moment may mean the difference between the sunlight of freedom or the shadow of high walls."[13] She made several studies of juvenile offenders and children at risk.[4][14][15] She testified before a 1926 Senate hearing, on law enforcement in Washington, D.C.[16] During World War II, she worked on juvenile delinquency prevention, recommending comprehensive daycare, protective police services, and interagency collaboration to improve children's lives.[4][17] She was executive secretary of the American Parole Association in her last years.[18][19]

Publications

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  • "Senate Bill 1750" (1926)[20]
  • "The Relation of the Juvenile Court to the Police" (1926)[21]
  • "Policewomen in the United States" (1927)[13]
  • The Elmwood Home for Boys, Erie, Pennsylvania (1938, report)[14]
  • "The Role of the Police in Crime Prevention" (1939)[22]
  • "In-Service Training for Probation and Parole Officers" (1941)[23]
  • Principles and Methods in Dealing with Offenders (1941, 1944, editor)[24]
  • The juvenile courts and probation services in the part of New Haven County comprising the third Congressional district (1941, report)[15]
  • Probation and Parole in Theory and Practice: A Study Manual (1942)[25][26]
  • "Effect of War Conditions On Children and Adolescents in the City of Hartford, Connecticut" (1944)[4]

Death

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Pigeon died after a heart attack in 1945,[18] at the age of 56, in New Haven, Connecticut.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Pigeon (death notice)". The Boston Globe. 1945-09-27. p. 25. Retrieved 2024-09-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ Radcliffe College, Class of 1912 (1912 yearbook).
  3. ^ a b "Miss Helen Pigeon, Boston, Reelected". The Boston Globe. 1928-05-03. p. 2. Retrieved 2024-09-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b c d e United States Congress Senate Education and Labor (1944). Wartime Health and Education.(78-2). pp. 175–201. Retrieved 2024-09-18.
  5. ^ "Welfare Leader to Speak Here". The Plain Speaker. 1934-10-12. p. 16. Retrieved 2024-09-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Noted Policewoman Due Here This Week". The Sunday Oregonian. 1927-06-26. p. 46. Retrieved 2024-09-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Clarke, Ida Clyde (1928). Women of Today. Women of Today Press. pp. 301–302. Retrieved 2024-09-18.
  8. ^ "MIss Pigeon's Visit Causes Much Interest". The Oregon Daily Journal. 1927-06-26. p. 42. Retrieved 2024-09-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Smith, Alexander B.; Berlin, Louis (2013-11-11). Treating the Criminal Offender. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 46. ISBN 978-1-4899-2103-1. Retrieved 2024-09-18.
  10. ^ "Probation Agt. Delivers Talk at Mah. Church; Miss Helen D. Pigeon Addresses Meeting of 200 Persons". The Danville News. 1936-01-10. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-09-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Appier, Janis (1998-01-12). Policing Women: The Sexual Politics of Law Enforcement and the LAPD. Temple University Press. p. 62. ISBN 978-1-56639-560-1. Retrieved 2024-09-18.
  12. ^ "Changers in Social Welfare Discussed". The Tribune. 1934-05-09. p. 6. Retrieved 2024-09-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ a b Pigeon, Helen D. "Policewomen in the United States" Journal of the American Institute of Criminal Law & Criminology 18 (1927): 372.
  14. ^ a b Pigeon, Helen DuMaresque (1938). The Elmwood Home for Boys, Erie Pennsylvania. New York: National Probation and Parole Association. Retrieved 2024-09-18.
  15. ^ a b Pigeon, Helen D. (1941). "The juvenile courts and probation services in the part of New Haven County comprising the third Congressional district; report of a survey". HathiTrust. Retrieved 2024-09-18.
  16. ^ United States Congress Senate Committee on the District of Columbia (1926). "Statement of Miss Helen D. Pigeon". Hearings. pp. 13–15. Retrieved 2024-09-18.
  17. ^ "War Survey Recommends Moves Here". Hartford Courant. 1942-05-24. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-09-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ a b "Miss Helen Pigeon". The Patriot-News. 1945-09-29. p. 20. Retrieved 2024-09-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Ulman Foundation Will Meet". The Evening Sun. 1945-04-20. p. 10. Retrieved 2024-09-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ Pigeon, Helen D. "Senate Bill 1750" The Woman Citizen 10(11)(February 1926): 30.
  21. ^ Pigeon, Helen D. (1926). "The Relation of the Juvenile Court to the Police". Annual Report and Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the National Probation Association. 20. The Association.: 195–201. Retrieved 2024-09-18.
  22. ^ Pigeon, Helen D. "The Role of the Police in Crime Prevention" YB (1939): 1.
  23. ^ Pigeon, Helen D. "In-Service Training for Probation and Parole Officers" Federal Probation 5 (1941): 8.
  24. ^ Pigeon, Helen Du Maresque, ed. Principles and Methods in Dealing with Offenders. Pennsylvania municipal publications Service, 1941.
  25. ^ Pigeon, Helen D. Probation and Parole in Theory and Practice: A Study Manual (The National Probation Association 1942).
  26. ^ Fink, Arthur E. (June 1987). "Useful Probation and Parole Study Manual". Federal Probation. 51 (2). Administrative Office of the United States Courts: 81. Retrieved 2024-09-18.
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