Sara Howard

Miss Sara Howard is a young woman on a mission to become the first female police officer in New York. She plays a critical role in the investigative team as she is able to look at the crimes from a female perspective.

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The Basics

Essentials

Sara Howard Name: Miss. Sara Howard
Birth Date: Estimated at some time in the 1860s
Birth Place: Upstate NY, USA
Personality: Strong, capable, highly-strung, loyal, high principled, fiery, opinionated, determined, energetic
Appearance: "Sara’s taste in dresses ran toward simple designs in shades of green that matched her eyes, and the one she wore that day, with only a minimal bustle and not much petticoat business, showed off her tall, athletic body to advantage. Her face was by no means striking but handsomely plain; it was the play of eyes and mouth, back and forth between mischievous and sad, that made it such a delight to watch her." (A 54)

Family Life

Father: Sara was close to her father but he died in a "hunting accident" in 1893. Some say it was suicide but Sara believes it was murder.
Mother: Was an invalid.
Siblings: None.

Working Life

Education: Went to college.
Occupation and Places of Work: Sara spent the summer after she graduated from college assisting a visiting nurse in the Tenth ward. She went on to become a police secretary in the Police Department Headquarters at Mulberry Street. Following the team's investigation in 1896, she became a private investigator and founded The Howard Agency: Research Services for Women located at 808 Broadway.

Private Life

Status: Single.
Home: Sara resides in a home on Gramercy Park. Her family also own a country estate at Rhinecliff.
Transportation: No private transportation. She instead walks or uses cabs (hansoms).
Past/Present Servants: Unknown.
Friends/Associates: Emily Cort, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Cecilia Beaux, John Moore, Marcus and Lucius Isaacson, Theodore Roosevelt, Laszlo Kreizler, Stevie Taggert.
Past Love Interests: Unknown, although Stevie mentions that "despite all her talk about men's defects, she's actually taken the time to get herself mixed up with one or two of them along the way" (AoD 742).