Four young women dressed in soldiers’ uniforms for a night of Halloween fun never expected their costumes to land them in police custody.
In 1919, the women were arrested in Washington, D.C., by Mrs. C. W. Barker of the Women’s Bureau Police Department and forced to post $30 collateral before being released the following day. Though the money was returned, the humiliation and inconvenience of the arrest were not so easily forgotten.
Now, at least one of the women was threatening “definite and drastic action” against the policewoman responsible, turning a simple costume dispute into a public controversy over authority, embarrassment, and the limits of Halloween merrymaking.
Woman’s Bureau Draws Censure
A sequel to the arrest of the four young women Friday night by Mrs. C.W. Barker, of the Women’s Bureau Police Department, for wearing soldiers’ uniforms as part of their Halloween merrymaking, may be an actuality, with the onus on the vigilant policewoman.
Miss Drusilla Carrie Nichols, one of the accused girls, who were released yesterday, and the $30 collateral returned, said last night that she was determined to take some definite and drastic action against Mrs. Barker, in reparation for the arrest, humiliation and inconvenience.
The other young women, Misses Mary Andrews, Mary E. Nichols, and Helen Martin, also are expected to seek reparation for the arrest.
Source: The Washington Herald. Washington, D.C. November 2, 1919.
