Charity Edna Adams Earley
Personal Information
Born: 1918
Died: 2002
Country of Birth: USA
Nationality: USA
Ethnicity: Black
Education
Wilberforce University BA Math, Latin & Physics 1938; Ohio State University MA Vocational Psychology 1946
"“I assumed all women lived with some degree of ignorance about the military. . . .I began making a mental adjustment to an unknown future. When I realized I was accepting the idea, I realized that the only basis I had for my feeling was an optimistic hunch.” (army.mil); “I was told how completely out of my mind I must be to ever consider leaving the security of a teaching position to go into something as uncertain as the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps. . . .My friends did not know that the uncertainty of the Army was far more appealing at this point than the certainty of the dullness and rigidity that the teaching profession had offered in the last few months.” (army.mil); “How mail…would make the loneliness, the fear, the death of friends, all of this, easier to bear. . . There was no Black, no white, no rank— just an understanding of our mantra: ‘No mail, low morale.’” (army.mil); “When I talk to students, they say, ‘How did it feel to know you were making history?’ But you don’t know you are making history when it’s happening.” (encyclopedia.com); "
— Charity Edna Adams Earley
Professional Life
Field of Study: Army Officer; Educator
Institution/Corporation: US Army; WAC; Dayton Ohio Public Schools
Degrees & Memberships: Honorary Degree: Wilberforce University (1991), University of Dayton (1991); Member: Board of Directors: Dayton Power & Light, Dayton Metro Housing Authority, Dayton Opera Company, Board of Governors of the Red Cross, Board of Trustees Sinclair Community College; United Way, United Negro college Fund, Urban League, YWCA, NAACP, Delta Sigma Theta
Awards & Achievements
Awards: 1979 Ohio Women's Hall of Fame; 1982 named to 110 Most Important Black Women in History, Smithsonian Institute; 1991 South Carolina Black Hall of Fame; 1989 Service to the Community Award, Ohio State Senate; 1987 Senior Citizen's Gold Watch Award; 1993 Ohio Veteran's Hall of Fame; 1946 Woman of the Year, National Council of Negro Women; 1965 Top 10 Women of the Miami Valley, Dayton Daily News; 1991 Citizen of the Year, Montgomery County Board of Commissioners; 1997 was included in BellSouth African-American History Calendar; 1946 Scroll of Honor for Distinguished Service to the Military, National Council of Negro Women; 1996 National Postal Museum Honoree, Smithsonian Institute
Achievements: 1st African-American female officer in the Women's Army Auxilliary Corps (later WAC); 1944 was commanding officer of the 1st & only battalion of African-American women to serve overseas during WWII (the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion( & was responsible for the delivery of mail to over 7 million soldiers; her book, One Woman's Army: A Black Officer Remembers the WAC, was published in 1989; fought against segregation in the military
enlisted in WAAC in 1942 & retired as a Lt Col in 1946
was the oldest of 4 children
was a gifted student & entered elementary school as a 2nd grader
graduated as valedictorian of her high school class
in the Army was initially a training supervisor in charge of improving efficiency & job training plus surveying officer (in charge of finding lost property) & summary court officer (handling women's minor offenses)
overseas was in charge of a postal directory service unit
improved morale by creating beauty parlors where women could relax & socialize
battled against segregation in the Army & refused to head a segregated regiment
rejected a segregated recreation center from the Red Cross
encouraged her battalion to socialize with whites (civilians & service personnel) & wanted to create comradeship between enlisted personnel & officers & ease racial tensions
worked as an educator or educational administrator after the war
an elementary school in Dayton Ohio is named after her
2023 Ft. Lee in Virginia was renamed Ft Gregg-Adams after her & Lt General Arthur J. Gregg
1938-42 taught math & science in junior high school
lived in Zurich Switzerland 1949-52 while her husband completed medical school there
attended the Minerva Institute in Zurich for 10 months to learn German
took classes at the University of Zurich for 2 years & during the 2nd year at the Jungian Institute of Analytical Psychology but didn't pusue a degree
was given 6 months to organize & deliver 6 airplane hangers of undelivered mail while stationed in England but she & her team completed the assignment in 3 months by working 3 shifts & was promoted to Lt Col (highest rank for a female) for her efforts
Tyler has made a movie, Six Triple Eight, about Adams & her unit which is expected to be released sometime in 2024
a superior officer once announced he was going to send a white officer to her unit to improve their workings & she replied, "Over my dead body, Sir"