On December 26, 1944, Harriet Ida Pickens and Frances Eliza Wills became the first African American women commissioned as officers in the U.S. Navy’s Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES). Their enlistment followed the Navy’s decision on October 19, 1944, to integrate the WAVES, a move influenced by civil rights organizations advocating for inclusivity. ?

Pickens, with a background in public health administration, and Wills, a social worker, completed their training at the Naval Reserve Midshipmen’s School at Smith College. Upon commissioning, Lieutenant (junior grade) Pickens and Ensign Wills were assigned to the WAVES training facility at Hunter College in the Bronx, New York City. ?

Their groundbreaking achievements paved the way for future generations of African American women in the U.S. Navy, symbolizing a significant step toward racial and gender integration within the armed forces during World War II.