Fitzsimmons Was a Trailblazer in a Male-Dominated Field, Later Teaching at C-L

STRATTANVILLE, Pa. (EYT) – As Clarion-Limestone School District plans to hire a second police officer, a look back in history shows that at one time they hired one of the first female Pennsylvania State Troopers as a teacher.

Barbara L. Fitzsimmons taught secondary social studies in the Clarion-Limestone School District. Still, before that, she was in the June 1972 first graduating class of female cadets at the Pennsylvania State Police Academy in Hershey.

While Barbara L. Fitzsimmons died on May 11, 2004, we can only suggest that police skills may have even helped her in the classroom with another generation. The path she took to Clarion-Limestone was a distinguished one.

Barbara Wharry graduated from Edinboro University in 1970. She was a legal secretary in Pittsburgh following graduation before applying for the State Police Academy.

Fourteen women graduated from the Pennsylvania State Police Academy with the 31st Cadet Class, the first to admit female cadets, on July 7, 1972.

Officials admitted some skepticism about the newly acquired presence in the program, both from male candidates and teachers.

“Some of the cadets who had had their application in for long periods resented the fact that we had a shorter waiting period. We applied in the fall and were accepted into the program that January,” recalled Barbara in a story in The Derrick.

For Barbara, acceptance into the training program signaled a new lifestyle, and the academy experience was challenging. The training program covered all aspects of police work, including rigorous physical conditioning and self-defense. All the requirements were the same for male and female cadets, except men were taught boxing while the women received instruction in judo and karate. All had to learn to ride a horse and take their turn at stable duty.

“These women were motivated to enlist by a sense of duty and a genuine interest in police work,” said Colonel Robert Evanchick, Commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police at a recent ceremony honoring the first class. “We owe them a debt of gratitude for their roles in breaking barriers and blazing trails that have helped make this department what it is today.”

PSP was the nation’s first state police agency to fully integrate female troopers into the regular command structure. Thus, the women of the 31st Cadet Class took on jobs exclusive to men throughout the department’s 67-year history, setting a high bar for female troopers who followed in their footsteps.

“Some welcomed us, but some took the attitude of – ‘Let’s just see if they will make it'” Barbara recalled.

Out of this arose a group determination that together they would overcome any prevailing doubts providing they could adapt as well as any male cadet.

After graduating from the police academy, Barbara was assigned to the Erie substation where she worked for two years in community relations and criminal and vice undercover investigation until she transferred to Franklin in August 1974.

She married Lawrence G. Fitzsimmons on February 23, 1974, in Franklin Park.

Assignments and duties in Franklin included patrol, desk work, and criminal and vice undercover investigation. She was also a popular speaker at local service clubs such as Zonta International– an international service organization with the mission of advancing the status of women.

Lieutenant Robert Gorman, of Franklin, said Fitzsimmons was expected to perform the same duties as the male troopers, duties which would include patrol, desk work like the man, and criminal advice undercover investigations.

Both she and Lieutenant Gorman were quick to point out that a woman’s approach is an asset, a kind of plus in certain areas of police work, especially in rate cases, and transporting a female prisoner or in searching a female.

Gorman admitted there was some apprehension within the community about her presence on the force but added that things worked out fine.

Gorman added that in no way was her role as a state trooper changed because she was a woman.

Her resignation came almost a year after her transfer to the Franklin Barracks.

At that time, Fitzsimmons said, “I found the experience very valuable. I would do it over again, but right now my family means more to me than working.”

Expecting her first child in December (Christine), she declined to take the option of a 12-month-maternity leave state police plan for female troopers. Her resignation was effective on July 1.

In addition to her work at C-L, she was a member of Pisgah Presbyterian Church, Corsica; the P.S.E.A. and A.D.K., and Brookville Order of the Eastern Star, 320, where she was past worthy matron and past district deputy.