13/01/2025
On this day in 2002, Lt Colonel Charity Adams Earley (3rd Company, 3rd Training Regiment WAC, 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion) passed away. December 5, 1918 - January 13, 2002.
Lt. Col. Charity Adams Earley served as the highest-ranking black female officer during World War II. She paved the way for future generations of black women in the military. Overcoming both wartime challenges and racial discrimination to become the first Black woman officer in the Women's Army Corps and commander of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion.
She left behind an extensive record of her incredible service. In 1989, she published One Woman’s Army, reflecting on her journey into service.
Adams enlisted in the U.S. Army's Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) in July 1942. She was the first African-American woman to be an officer in the WAAC. At the time, the U.S. Army was still segregated, so she was placed in a company with fellow female African-American women officers and stationed at Fort Des Moines.
In 1943, she was assigned to be the training supervisor at base headquarters. In early 1944, Adams was reassigned as the Training Center control officer in charge of improving efficiency and job training. She also had typical additional duties, such as surveying officer (finding lost property) and summary court officer (handling women's minor offenses).
In December 1944, Adams led the only company of Black WACs ever to serve overseas. They were stationed in Birmingham, England. The women began to socialize with the citizens and broke through prejudices on both sides. Adams was put in charge of a postal directory service unit. Another part of her job included raising the morale of women. Adams achieved this by creating beauty parlors for the women to relax and socialize in.
In March 1945, she was appointed the commanding officer of the first battalion of African-American women, the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. They were stationed first in Birmingham. Three months later they were moved to Rouen, France, and then to Paris. They were responsible for the delivery of millions of pieces of mail to soldiers during World War II.
By the completion of the war, Lieutenant Colonel Adams was the highest ranking African-American woman in the military. At the conclusion of the war, when asked about her groundbreaking achievements, Adams responded simply: "I just wanted to do my job." After celebrating victory, she left the service in 1946 to continue her education.