History of Star City: First Black officers to join the Roanoke PD
ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) — Men and women across the country set fire to the trail for African Americans throughout several communities, and WFXR News is digging deeper into the history of one local police department.
On social media, the Roanoke Police Department (RPD) highlighted the first Black officers to join the force; Officers Lonnie A. Caldwell, Leon L. Fields, Woodrow W. Gaitor, and Harry L. Stovall.
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“These men paved the way for the officers of today to serve this community. They might not have known it then, but they took the first steps in a journey that hundreds would take after them,” said the Roanoke Police Department in a Facebook post.
The police department dates back to the mid-1800s when A.H. Hughes was appointed as the Town Sergeant. Hughes is considered the first law enforcement officer in Roanoke. In 1882, J.B. Kennerly was appointed as the first Chief of Police and was the first to wear a formal uniform.
As the city continued to grow, so did the department. By 1891 the RPD, had 26 officers.
However, in the 1940s the Star City, formerly known at the time as Majic City, began making changes to include African-American and women officers.
About the first Black Roanoke police officers
News articles dating back to the 1940s reflect that in December of 1943, the names of five Black officers were handed to city officials by the local Civic League as prospective policemen.
However, it wasn’t until June of 1946, when former Roanoke Police Chief James Ingolsby selected the first two Black officers to join the force — Woodrow Gaitor and Lonnie Alfred Caldwell.
Officer Gaitor lived in the Northwest Roanoke area and was a first sergeant in the field artillery from October 1941 to January 1946. He attended St. Paul Polytechnic Institute and the Historically Black College and Univeristy, Florida A and M College (Flordia A&M University). He played varsity football and basketball at St. Paul and one year at Florida. He later went on to serve as the first black City Manager of the City of Hartford, Connecticut.
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Joining Gaitor was Lonnie Alfred Caldwell who graduated from high school in Charleston, West Virginia. He was a first-class private in the Army for two years.
Five months later, two additional Black officers joined the force, Harry L. Stovall and Leon L. Fields.
Officer Stovall and Fields both lived in the Northwest area. Documents dating back to Nov. 16, 1946 show that Stovall and Fields were both former servicemen.
Stovall served in the Army’s 359th Engineers and was a staff sergeant when he received an honorable discharge. Before he joined the army, Stovall graduated from Lucy Addison High School. He continued his dedication and attended Virginia Union University where he played football.
Fields served in Army military police from June 1943 to September 1945. He studied at St. Paul and Howard University where he majored in physical education.
Records from historic archives in 1946, indicate that since Officers Gaitor, Caldwell, Fields, and Stovall joined the RPD, the city saw a decrease in crime among the Black community and the youth.
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Growth in the police department
Even though the first Black officers weren’t appointed until 1946, the community began to advocate for black policemen in the early 1940s.
According to an article written on July 15, 1944, the Roanoke Civic League was on a mission to obtain 10,000 signatures to petition for Black officers. Joining them in the fight, the Chamber of Commerce specifically asked for the appointment of four black officers.
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During this time, the City Council was also pushing for two female officers, with hopes of adding one Black female officer to the crew.
On Jan. 1, 1944, Hazel Garst was sworn in as the first female officer with the Roanoke Police Department. Just three months later, Rosa Smith made history as the second woman to join the agency.
This came after the City Council decided that there should be two female officers working together. By this time, there were less than 200 women police officers across the country.
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