Browse Items (148 total)

In 1942, Charity (Adams) Earley became the first Black commissioned officer in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), later the Women’s Army Corps (WAC). In 1944, the WAC selected Earley commanding officer of the 6888th Central Postal Directory…

A young Jasmin Moghbeli wanted to be an astronaut when she grew up. Today, she is the first astronaut of Iranian descent, and a potential candidate to be the first woman on the moon. Moghbeli received her Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace…

Three years before Rosa Parks stood up to discrimination by sitting down on an Alabama bus in 1955, Women’s Army Corps (WAC) Private First Class Sarah Keys refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger. Heading home to Washington, North…

Born in Jamaica, Jeanine (McIntosh) Menze grew up watching airplanes fly into Kingston International Airport. Ignited early on with a deep love of flying, she earned various flying certifications while in college. After school, Menze applied for…

Born into a military family, Michelle Howard graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1982, where she was one of only seven African American women. During Operation Desert Storm (1990-1991), she served aboard the USS "Mount Hood" as chief…

After serving in the U.S. Air Force from 1978 to 1983, Gianna Fimbres, of Tucson, Arizona, enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1987. Trained as a petroleum specialist, Fimbres deployed to Kuwait and Iraq during Operation Desert Storm (1990-1991).…

Following the December 7, 1941, Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. government, because of a perceived national security risk, rounded up 120,000 American citizens of Japanese descent and sent them to Mid-West and West Coast internment camps.…

Army physical therapist Aida Nancy Sanchez, originally from Santurce, Puerto Rico, served at the 95th Evacuation Hospital near Da Nang, Vietnam, from December 1970 to December 1971. As the first physical therapist assigned to the hospital, she set up…

Esther Gleaton joined the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) in 1966, because it offered her opportunity to travel beyond her Atlanta, Georgia, hometown and made her eligible to receive the G.I. Bill for college. She needed her parent’s permission, which they…

Charlotte (Anderson) Monture, of the Six Nations Grand River Reserve in Canada, served as one of the few American Indian Army nurses during World War I. Wanting to seek new opportunities, Monture attended the New Rochelle School of Nursing in New…