In 1949, the New Orleans Police Department consisted of approximately 900 police officers. Only one of them was a woman. Her name was Kate Victory, and she considered fighting crime a family affair.
Kate was born in 1893 to Seraphine Baril and Matthew Ghergish, a grocer from Austria.
On Dec. 20, 1911, Kate married Reuben Joseph Victory. The couple’s only son John was born two years later. Reuben served in World War I and worked for the railroad, while Kate took care of the family home at 525 S. Alexander St.
Life for the Victory family changed dramatically when Reuben started work in 1921 with the New Orleans Police Department. Reuben’s rise in the police force was meteoric. He began as a patrolman; just six months later, after showing remarkable ability, he was attached to the chief of detectives’ office. One year after becoming a police officer, he was appointed detective. He had just solved the Phelan diamond robbery case.
During his time as a detective, Reuben took part in some of the most significant criminal exposés of the era. He investigated what was known as the “bootleggers war” in St. Bernard Parish. He also was asked by the district attorney’s office to take on warring slot machine operators. When he discovered that protection money was being exchanged, he asked to be recalled from the DA’s office service. He did not want to be considered compromised.
Tragically, Reuben’s time as a detective was cut short by his early death. He died at home on Oct. 25, 1924, at the age of 31, leaving behind a widow and an 11-year-old son, John Victory, who vowed he would be a detective just like his father. His mother told him he would only get to wear his father’s badge when he made that dream a reality.
Kate had always been fascinated by her husband’s work. His death inspired her to embark on her own foray into policing. She became a switchboard operator at NOPD headquarters, and soon, she was made police matron.
In 1942, Kate was appointed the only policewoman in the department. Her first assignment was to take on a thief. Women were being robbed of their purses while stopping their cars at intersections for red lights. For a month, Kate drove around every night with two detectives hiding on the floor of her back seat. Finally, a thief jumped on the car’s running board and grabbed the purse on Kate’s seat. She gave the signal — a cough and sudden stop — and the detectives jumped up in pursuit of the thief. A shot went off. Later, Kate learned that the detectives had fired into the air to attempt to frighten the culprit. He led them underneath a house where they discovered a large quantity of women’s handbags and $90 in cash.
Kate assisted in stings on fortunetellers and con artists. She searched women prisoners and helped apprehend women who fled the jurisdiction. Four years after becoming a policewoman, Kate was selected to be part of the newly organized Juvenile and Missing Persons Bureau. By that time, her son John had joined the department. In a March 5, 1950, Times-Picayune article, Kate told a reporter she would never forget the day her son made detective and asked for his father’s badge.
“He told me that he was a detective,” Kate said. “I had the badge all polished, laying in a desk drawer. I gave it to him and told him that I hoped he would be as good a detective as his father was.” John left to receive his orders and returned shortly to his mother. He told Kate that he had been assigned to the juvenile bureau, where Kate worked. She promptly gave Detective Victory his assignment.
Mother and son worked together at the police department and then returned home every night to 525 S. Alexander St., which had now been the family home for 30 years. Kate entertained fellow officers there. Over the years in various interviews, she had encouraged other women to join the police department, and she hosted a surprise dinner for a fellow policewoman’s anniversary.
Kate retired in 1955 after more than 30 years as a member of the New Orleans Police Department. A farewell party was held for her at Lenfant’s restaurant. When John Victory retired in July 1971, the department declared it the end of an era. Just a few weeks later, Kate died. Her funeral was held at St. Anthony of Padua Church, and she was interred in Greenwood Cemetery.
