Lt Col Charity Adams Earley, Black Pioneer in WAC`s

 

Adams was soon assigned to the Third Company, Third Training Regiment, which had two white and one black platoons. The Army assigned all of the black enlisted women here and placed them all in two Companies. Soon the new officers were training the enlisted personnel, and in December the first group of WAAC trainees was sent out to various army posts. Because African-American recruits were few in number, Adams and the other black officers trained them in a wide variety of procedures, which normally would have been handled by specialist companies. Always one to see a glass as half full rather than half empty, Adams comments that as a result, the African-American officers gained knowledge and skills quickly that white officers learned over a much longer period of time.

 

 Soon after Adams was promoted from third to first officer, she was on her way home for a visit. The train and all other accommodations in the South were still segregated. Despite her uniform, Adams was denied entry into the dining car of the train until a white Southerner, a second lieutenant, spoke up for her, and then joined her for a meal. Coming home to Columbia, Adams experienced the nascent civil rights movement and its opposition. She attended the annual meeting of the local NAACP chapter, listening to her father, the chapter president, speak. Before the meeting had ended, she was warned that the Ku Klux Klan was waiting at her house. When they returned home, the Klan had cars lining the street. Adams' father brought out his shotguns and ammunition, gave one to his wife and children, and left to join the NAACP state president, who was home alone and also under siege. Rev. Adams had told his family not to provoke the Klan. After a sleepless night, the Klansmen left both houses at dawn.

 

 Over the next few years Adams remained on duty at Fort Des Moines. The troops planted trees and shrubs and their efforts at beautification won them many inspections. At one point, they were told to ease up on the planting - the base was beginning to look too much like a civilian facility! Fitting uniforms and handling paperwork were among the most time-consuming components of the job. Keeping track of supplies and getting the right number of pillows and sheets could be a problem. Many visitors came to see the women train and as the months rolled by, the male trainers left and women officers handled more and more of the actual training. Adams' company was the "show company of the post." In mid-1943 Adams received a new assignment, as a training supervisor at base headquarters. She spent much of her time watching classes of trainees, both white and black, and became friendly with the other supervisors, who were all white women. In June she received the first of many assignments away from headquarters, to Washington, D.C. Soon she was off on an inspection tour to Massachusetts, New Jersey and North Carolina. Other trips followed. In early 1944, Adams, now officially a part of the Army's new Women's Army Corp, was given the assignment of Training Center (TC) control officer. She looked for ways to improve efficiency and improve job training. As more and more of the male officers left, Adams took on more responsibilities. At one point she was juggling nine new assignments with her other responsibilities, but she kept up with all of them. As summary court officer, she handled trials for women charged with minor offenses, an unpleasant but necessary task. As surveying officer, she had to find lost property and determine whether company property was actually missing. For much of this time, she was the only African-American officer assigned to the TC Headquarters.

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