Charity Adams: The story of the highest-ranked black female officer of Second World War
Lieutenant Colonel Charity E Adams-Earley was the highest-ranked black female officer during World War II and the commanding officer of the first all-female US Army battalion to serve overseas during the conflict.
Lt Col Adams-Earley overcame racial prejudice and discrimination to lead the famous 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion in 1945 – currently depicted in the Netflix film The Six Triple Eight.
It was the only predominantly black, all-female unit to serve overseas during the Second World War and sorted 17 million items of mail in the UK.
But what is the true story of the former schoolteacher, soldier and activist who paved the way for women of colour in the US military?
Early life
Charity Edna Adams was born on 5 December 1918 in Kitrell, North Carolina.
She was the oldest of four children, and the daughter of a minister father and a teacher mother.
From an early age, she was subjected to racial prejudice and discrimination, and eventually moved to South Carolina with her family.
Charity Adams started school as a second grader and graduated high school two years early as valedictorian of her class.
She later attended Wilberforce College in Ohio, majoring in maths, Latin and physics.
Following her graduation in 1938, she followed in the footsteps of her mother and taught maths and science to junior high students.
Military career
In July 1942, Ms Adams joined the US Army and trained at Fort Des Moines, Iowa, as part of the first Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) officer class – the corps would later be renamed the Women's Army Corps (WAC).
While the unit was formed for non-combat roles, it received more than 35,000 applications for less than 1,000 initial positions.
The corps offered women roles as clerks, typists, drivers and cooks, and within one year of the WAAC's formation more than 400 jobs were open to women.
Ms Adams experienced segregation in the US Army within 30 minutes of arriving when white and black soldiers were separated into living units.
First black officer
Ms Adams graduated from her training in August 1942 and became the first black officer of the WAC.
She led the 3rd Company, 3rd Training Regiment, which consisted of two white platoons and one black platoon, in Fort Des Moines until 1944.
In 1943, she became one of the highest-ranking female officers in the United States when she was promoted to major.
The 6888th Battalion
In December 1944, then-Major Adams was deployed to Europe as the commanding officer of the 6888th Central Postal Battalion, making her the leader of the first black WAC to serve overseas.
The unit's assignment was to sort more than 17 million items of backlogged mail in Birmingham, which they accomplished in less than three months.
While serving in Britain, the unit was housed in segregated living spaces and poor conditions.
During her time in the UK, when her unit was stationed in London, the Red Cross attempted to segregate the troops, to which she responded: "Over my dead body."
Before the end of the war, she served in Rouen and Paris in France, where her unit handled approximately 65,000 pieces of post per day.
Promotion
On 26 December 1945, she was promoted to lieutenant colonel, making her the highest-ranked female of colour in the US Army at the time.
She was transferred to the Pentagon but only held her post for a short time before requesting her discharge from the military in March 1946.
Once she was discharged, The National Council of Negro Women presented her with a scroll of honour for distinguished service to the military.
During a four-year military career, Lt Col Adams overcame racism and the stigma of the period to pave the way for females in the armed forces.
Later life
Lt Col Adams returned to Ohio State University and completed her master's degree in vocational psychology.
She married Stanley A Earley Jr in 1949 and they settled down in Dayton, Ohio, where they raised two children.
In 1982, she founded the Black Leadership Development Programme which focused on teaching young African Americans to be leaders in their communities.
Charity Adams died on 13 January 2002.
On 27 April 2023, Fort Lee, Virginia, was officially renamed Fort Gregg-Adams in honour of Lieutenant General Arthur Gregg and Lieutenant Colonel Charity Adams.
Her life and service have been brought to life in the 2024 Netflix film The Six Triple Eight where she is played by actress Kerry Washington.
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