Charity Adams Earley was born in Kittrell, North Carolina. In 1942, she became the first African American woman to be commissioned as an officer in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), later the Women’s Army Corps (WAC). Rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, she was the highest-ranking Black woman in the Army during World War II. She commanded the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, the only all-Black, all-female battalion to serve overseas during the war.
Her leadership broke barriers for women and African Americans in the military and remains an inspiration in U.S. military history.
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