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12/22/1944-African-American women during World War II had difficulty volunteering to serve in the war effort.
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African-American enlistment in the Women's Army Corps (WAC) was limited to 10% of enlistees (reflecting the black proportion of the U.S. population and known as "ten-percenters").
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Only the officers were trained in integrated units, but all served in racially segregated units, and lived and ate in "colored only" facilities. During the war, 6,520 black women served as WACs.
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Black women were completely banned from the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) until the last year of the war.
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Through the efforts of Director Mildred McAfee and Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, Secretary of the Navy (and later the first Secretary of Defense) James Forrestal pushed through their admittance.
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The first two black WAVES officers, Lieutenant Harriet Ida Pikens and Ensign Frances Wills, were sworn in this day.
Of 80,000 WAVES, only 72 black women served.
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Of 80,000 WAVES, only 72 black women served.
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