WWII 6888th Central Postal Battalion vet Romay Davis, 102, Jay Reeves/AP.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at Dedication Ceremony Honoring Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, 7/13/2022 (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post).
Black Women ROCK (US history)! By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs
Two BIG story updates: Mary McLeod Bethune Returns to the Hill (7/13/2022) (Figuratively) topples Confederate Statue! 1st Black American in Statuary Hall! See related NARA Tumblr post. Dr. Bethune joined Old Boys Club on Capitol Hill (90 of the 100 statues there are of men) as an impressive 3 ton, 11 foot statue in the Capitol’s National Statuary Hall.
80 years late, WWII vet Romay Davis is recognized (7/25/2022) Davis was part of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, the only all-Black, all-female unit to serve in Europe in WWII, led by Major Charity Adams, the highest-ranking Black woman in the Army during WWII. See: Black Female WWII Unit Gets (Congressional) GOLD!
More amazing facts about Dr. Bethune:
1st Black woman to lead a federal agency.
1st Black women with a university founded in her name.
Founder of the National Council of Negro Women
More amazing facts about Ms. Davis:
She earned a martial arts black belt while in her late 70s!
She went back to work at grocery store in Montgomery, AL, and retired only last year, at age 101!
The 6888th by the #s:
855 - # of Black women in the 6888th
3 - # of months it took them to clear a 6-month backlog of mail.
3 separate 8-hour shifts, 7 days a week - work hours.
65,000 - # of pieces of mail processed per shift
17 million - # of pieces of mail processed by the conflict’s end.
77 years - # of years wait for these women to be honored by Congress
Connection between the two? Mary McLeod Bethune worked with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to establish the Women’s Army Corps, and advocated for the inclusion of Black women who wanted to contribute to the war effort.
“Somewhere in England, Maj. Charity E. Adams,…and Capt. Abbie N. Campbell, …inspect the first contingent of Negro members of the Women’s Army Corps assigned to overseas service.” 2/15/1945. NARA ID 16214.
Much more online:
We honor WW2’s #InvisibleWarriors! Black Women in WWII
BLACK (military) NURSES ROCK!
Pictorial History of Black Women in the US Navy during World War II and Beyond, by Dr. Tina Ligon, Rediscovering Black History.
Before Kamala: Black Women in Presidential Administrations, Rediscovering Black History
Official Personnel Folder for Mary McLeod Bethune, NARA ID 158329664.
Mary Bethune: Adviser to Presidents, Hoover Heads blog
Providing a New Deal for Young Black Women: Mary McLeod Bethune and the Negro Affairs Division of the National Youth Association, Rediscovering Black History.
Featured NARA public program: Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All
The Closed Door of Justice: African American Nurses and the Fight for Naval Service, by Alicia Henneberry, The Text Message.
Their War Too: US Women in the Military During WWII, The Text Message
African Americans and the War Industry by Alexis Hill, The Unwritten Record blog
I too, am Rosie by Dr. Tina Ligon, Rediscovering Black History
Women’s History Month and African American History National Archives News special topics pages.