Charity Adams Earley (1918-2002) stood up against racism in the American military. Through her service as one of first Black female officers in the U.S. army, she contributed to the eventual desegregation of the American military.
Charity Adams Earley (1918-2002) stood up against racism in the American military. Through her service as one of first Black female officers in the U.S. army, she contributed to the eventual desegregation of the American military.
You’re probably familiar with rebels without a cause, but what about rebels with a cause? This month on Womanica, we’re talking about women who broke rules that were meant to be broken. From the “Godmother of Title IX” Bernice Sandler, to the most prominent figure of the People Power Revolution, Corazon Aquino, to the “Queen of Civil Rights” Ruby Hurley, these women took major risks to upend the status quo and create meaningful change.
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Hello! From Wonder Media Network, I’m Jenny Kaplan. And this is Womanica.
This month, we’re talking about Rebels WITH a cause: women who broke rules that were meant to be broken. These women took major risks to upend the status quo and create meaningful change.
Today, we’re talking about a woman who stood up against racism in the American military. Through her service as one of first Black female officers in the U.S. army, she contributed to the eventual desegregation of the American military.
Let’s meet Charity Adams Earley.
Charity was born in Kitrell, North Carolina on December 5, 1918. When she was a young girl, her family moved to South Carolina, where she’d spend the remainder of her childhood. Charity excelled in school at an early age. She skipped several grades and graduated from high school as valedictorian when she was 16 years old.
Charity attended Wilberforce University, a historically Black college in Ohio. She studied math, Latin and physics. After graduating in 1938, she returned to South Carolina to teach math and science to junior high students. She also took classes at Ohio State University durings summers, working towards a masters degree.
During this time, the United States was on the brink of war. After the attack on Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, the American military needed to expand as they officially joined the Allied Forces in World War II. Earlier that year, Representative Edith Nourse Rogers of Massachusetts had introduced a bill to establish a women’s corp in the army. In 1942, it became law, and the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps was formed. It would eventually drop the “auxiliary” distinction and become just the Women’s Army Corps, or WAC. The new law ensured that women in the army would eventually receive the same benefits as male soldiers.
Civil rights activists campaigned for Black women to be allowed in the WAC. In the end, a quota was set to ensure that 10% of the first trainee class would be Black women.
In July of 1942, Charity traveled to Fort Des Moines in Iowa to train with the first ever WAC officer class. When she arrived, Charity and the 39 other Black women in the class were segregated from the white women.
Despite the racism embedded in the army’s policies, the WAC was so small that all the women usually had to train together anyway. The army tried to enforce segregated dining tables, but this failed after only a few days when the Black trainees refused to eat.
Just as she had in school, Charity excelled as a WAC trainee. She graduated a year later and became the first ever Black officer of the WAC. She began working as a station control and staff training officer at the fort. In 1943, the army promoted Charity to major. This made her the highest-ranking WAC officer at Fort Des Moines and one of the highest ranking female officers in the country.
When the WAC first formed, the army didn’t plan to allow Black officers to serve overseas. But as the war dragged on, the army needed more help in the European theater. In 1944, Charity was chosen to command the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion — called the Six Triple Eight. It was the only Black WAC unit to be assigned to go overseas during the war.
Charity knew that as an all-Black, all-female battalion, they would be highly scrutinized. She said, “The eyes of the public would be upon us, waiting for one slip in our good conduct or performance."
The Six Triple Eight arrived in Birmingham, England in February of 1945. Their task was to sort years’ worth of packages and letters to U.S. service members all over Europe. The mail filled an entire warehouse. The army estimated the task would take the women six months to complete. During that time, the unit slept on straw mattresses, shivering in the frigid living quarters.
Their assignment was complicated and daunting. A lot of soldiers didn’t keep their address cards up to date since units moved around so often. Another hurdle was that many soldiers had the same name. Charity wrote that their warehouse contained letters and parcels for “more than 7,500 Robert Smiths.” The unit also had to censor any sensitive information in letters.
But Charity and the Six Triple Eight were determined to work quickly. The women knew that the men fighting on the front lines needed the packages and letters for emotional support. Their motto became “No Mail, Low Morale.” Charity separated the work into three daily shifts. That way, at least one third of the unit was always sorting mail while the others slept and rested. Each shift, the Six Triple Eight sorted roughly 65,000 pieces of mail. In the end, their six month job was finished in just three. After their success in England, Charity’s unit relocated to Rouen, France to sort more backlogged mail. After that, they moved on to Paris.
While in Europe, Charity consistently stood against any racism her unit encountered. She refused to let them stay in a segregated hotel provided by the Red Cross in London. Another time, a general inspected her unit. He didn’t understand her carefully-designed shift system and said he was going to send a lower-ranking white WAC officer to show Charity how to run the unit properly. She replied, “Over my dead body, sir.” She threatened to file charges against him for language “stressing racial segregation.” The general dropped the issue. Later, he said he had come to respect Charity.
When the group was finally sailing home, Charity was the highest-ranking female officer on the ship. That meant she was in charge of a white Army Nurse Corps. They refused to be under the authority of a Black officer. Charity told them, “If you cannot go home under my command, I suggest you pack your belongings. … We sail at midnight.” No one left, and Charity maintained her authority on board.
In March of 1946, Charity was honorably discharged from the WAC at the rank of lieutenant colonel. She went back to her studies at Ohio State and finally earned her master’s degree in psychology. She married Stanley A. Earley, and the couple eventually settled in Dayton, Ohio. They had two children. Charity worked at various colleges and remained active in community service. She founded the Black Leadership Development Program in Dayton in 1982.
Charity died on January 13, 2002. She was 83 years old. She is featured in the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame and the South Carolina Black Hall of Fame. The Smithsonian Institute, National Post Museum and the National Women’s History Museum have all recognized Charity’s trailblazing military career.
More than one million Black Americans served during World War II. Black service members like Charity played a huge role in turning the tide against segregation. Her individual courage and talent proved that Black women had a place in the army. In 1948, President Harry Truman officially abolished segregation in the American military.
All month, we’re talking about rebels with a cause. For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram @womanicapodcast.
Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator.
Talk to you tomorrow!