Security in America: 1900-1949
| A New Age of American Protection As our ongoing series continues, you can see how American security evolved from colonial watchmen to organized police forces, and from early locksto innovative mechanical systems. By the turn of the 20th century, the pace of change accelerated dramatically. The early 1900s introduced technological breakthroughs, federal oversight, and global conflict, all of which reshaped how America protected its people, infrastructure, and information. …Read on to learn more! |
| SECURITY HIGHLIGHTS: 1900-1950 |
| 1. Rise of Professional Policing & Urban Patrols: As cities expanded rapidly, municipal police departments standardized uniforms, training, detective divisions, and radio communication. The introduction of the police call box, followed by two-way radio patrol cars in the 1930s, transformed response times and coordination. Why it matters: This era created the foundation for today’s modern public safety infrastructure and 24/7 emergency response. |
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| Fifteen uniformed policemen gather around a police car adjacent to the Venice Police Station, CA. Source: commmons.wikimedia.org |
| 2. Safe & Vault Technology Leaps Forward: Early 1900s safe manufacturers, like Mosler, Diebold, and Yale, developed complex combination locks, time-delay mechanisms, and steel-reinforced vaults to protect businesses, banks, and government buildings. During Prohibition and the Depression, increased criminal activity (e.g., Dillinger-era bank robberies) spurred better safe engineering and broader commercial adoption. Why it matters: Mechanical safe technology from this period shaped the standards used in secure storage today. |
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| The vault in the First National Bank in Waco, Texas in 1919. Source: texashistory.unt.edu |
| 3. Military & National Security Advances: The two World Wars dramatically accelerated America’s investment in national protection: – Military communications security grew with the Signal Corps developing encryption, early ciphers, and secure radio networks. – Physical facility protection expanded to guard factories, ports, and transportation systems. – Civil Defense organizations formed in the 1940s to protect civilians from air raids and emergencies. Why it matters: WWII-era advancements directly influenced today’s cybersecurity, intelligence practices, and critical-infrastructure protection. |
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| U.S. shore patrol group operating Signal Corps radios. Source: commons.wikimedia.org |
| 4. Early Access Control & Industrial Security: As factories grew during the industrial boom, companies adopted: – Mechanical time clocks to track worker access – Badge systems for identity verification – Security guards trained in standardized procedures – Industrial espionage became a concern, leading to new norms in controlled access and record-keeping. Why it matters: These innovations laid the groundwork for modern card access, credentialing, and facility monitoring. |
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| Thomas Edison punches his time card on his 74th birthday at his workshop in New Jersey. Source: rethinkq.adp.com |
| 5. Telecommunications & Information Protection: Mass telephone adoption created new security priorities: – Operators and law enforcement collaborated on wire fraud prevention – Early forms of call tracing were developed – Radio frequencies required regulation and monitoring Why it matters: This era marked the beginning of protecting not just physical spaces but communication networks, an essential part of security today. |
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| Early 20th-century telephone switchboard operators guarding the flow of communication in a period when connected information became a new security frontier. Source: history.com |
| WHY IT MATTERS TODAY Electricity, automobiles, telephones, industrial expansion, and two world wars all transformed what “security” meant in America. The first half of the 20th century introduced the earliest ancestors of the integrated technology solutions M3T delivers today. From early patrol cars to modern cloud-based access control, every step has shaped how we protect what matters most. |