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December 5, 1918 – January 13, 2002

Charity Adams Earley was a teacher, activist, and community leader.  She was also a decorated veteran – the highest ranking African American servicewoman in the United States Army during WWII.

Earley joined the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, the precursor to the Women’s Army Corps, in August 1942. At Fort Des Moines she joined the WAAC’s first officer candidate school class and became the first African American female officer in the United States Army.

In September 1943, she was promoted to major and in late 1944 she was made the commanding officer of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion – the only all-Black group of WACs to serve overseas during WWII.  This group of over 800 Black women were sent to Birmingham, England where they were tasked with dealing with a massive, 2-year backlog of mail. They were presented with several airplane hangars filled to the ceilings with mail, some of which were addressed as simply as, “To Johnny, US Army.” Christmas had passed, so the mail contained rotting fruitcakes and cookies, and was infested with rats and insects. The buildings were unheated and poorly lit as the windows had been blackened for air raid safety.

To meet this herculean task, Earley divided the 6888th into 3 shifts – one would be working, one would be sleeping, and one would be available for inspection, allowing them to work around the clock.  A white general came to inspect them and was angry the entire group was not available. He insisted they be summoned, but Earley refused, knowing this would disrupt the workflow.  The incensed general told her he would send a white lieutenant to replace her, to which she responded, “over my dead body.” Although he threatened her with court martial, Earley knew he had violated military protocol. He never followed through on the threat and remarked later to her that he learned to respect her.

Throughout the war, Adams refused to accept attempts to segregate the women she commanded, and finally, the army stopped trying. For example, she refused to accept being denied access to a hotel that was used by white WACs for recreation, and to her knowledge, a separate hotel intended for Black WACs was never used. While there was systemic racism within the U.S Army, there were no Jim Crow laws in England, so most of the women reported greater equality in England.

While the 6888th were given 6 months to deal with the backlog of mail, the 6888th dealt with it all within only 3 months.  It is estimated they processed an average of 65,000 pieces of mail per shift.  Their motto was “No mail, low morale” and they took that to heart. After finishing their assignment early in Birmingham, they were sent on to Rouen and Paris in France to resolve their mail backlogs as well.

By the time Earley left the Army she was promoted to lieutenant colonel, the highest possible promotion for women in the WAC, placing her directly under the WAC director, Oveta Culp Hobby. She used her G.I. Bill to continue her extensive education after the war, becoming a community leader in Dayton, Ohio, where she founded the Black Leadership Development Program, which educates and trains African Americans to be leaders in their communities.

Among the uniforms, photographs and military medals on display at the Women’s Memorial is a simple pair of brown leather boots. Like many other uniform items, the fact that they were worn or used by military women would seem to earn them a place at the Women’s Memorial. But this pair of boots tells a special story of women’s military history. 1LT Esther (Mellotte) Nelson, US Army Nurse Corps, was outfitted with these boots prior to shipping out for overseas duty at the 23rd Station Hospital, Leopoldville, Belgian Congo, in July 1942. For Nelson and her fellow nurses, life at the 23rd held two challenges. Duty in the heart of Central Africa came with malaria-carrying mosquitoes and few options for protective clothing. At that time, Army women’s uniform issue included skirts, but no slacks or trousers. The innovative solution was custom-made, thigh-high boots, dubbed “Mosquito boots.” Fastened by garter belts, Mosquito Boots were worn under the nurses’ skirts after sundown to protect their legs from mosquitoes. Though she only spent nine months in the Belgian Congo, Nelson held onto her custom-made togs through her tour in the European Theater, from April 1943 to Oct. 1945, and beyond. After more than three years of overseas service—twice as long as her stateside service—Nelson was discharged in Feb. 1946. She returned to her home state of PA where she worked as a registered nurse.