WWII AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN\'S ARMY CORP PHOTOS AUTOGRAPHS CIVIL RIGHTS 1944-1947
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WWII AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN\'S ARMY CORP PHOTOS AUTOGRAPHS CIVIL RIGHTS 1944-1947:
$99.99
Here is a wonderful piece of black American history! It is acollection of autographs and photos assembled by a young African AmericanSoldier who enlisted in the Women’s Army Corp! She would go on to be trained byand meet the first African American women of the WAC, WWII and some influentialparticipants of the Civil Rights Movement!
WHAT FOLLOWS IS A DETAILED SUMMARY OF THE ENTRIES IN THISBOOK. I HAVE TRIED TO BE AS ACCURATE AS POSSIBLE. PLEASE READ ALL OF IT. FOLLOWING THAT, I HAVEPROVIDED CONDITION OF THE BOOK. AND FINALLY YOU WILL FIND MANY SCANS FROM THEBOOK. I DID NOT SCAN EVERYTHING, AS THERE ARE 78 ENTRIES. BE SURE TO SCROLL THROUGH ALL OF THE SCANS…..THEYARE AMAZING!
The autographs she was able to obtain are incredible, andhere are some of the most notable:
Her leadership in Company 6, WAC 3rd Reg, would havebeen the first African Americans to be trained in the WAC. Some autos sheobtained are 2LT Gladys E. Pace, 2LT Margaret A. Curtis, 2LT Julie A. Rich andSSG Batis.
1LT Victoria Poole, Commander of the 106th WACDetachment, Oakland Army Base, CA
LTC Ralph W. Mendelson, Medical Chief at Camp Maxey, Texas
COL Westray Battle Boyce, second Director of the WAC, firstwoman to be awarded the Legion of Merit and the first woman to be awarded theCross of Military Service
LT Grace L. Hewell, MY FAVORITE ENTRY, wrote in1945 ……..”Here’s hoping you pass the incubation period and come out into a moreliberal society________sometime in the future.” Ms. Hewell went on to be animportant in the Civil Rights movement, specifically in the education arena.She was with Dr. Martin Luther King JR, in Chicago on 10 July 1965 in a marchon City Hall to complain about the conditions of the schools. Her obituarysays, “The 89th Congress was labeled \"the education Congress\" becauseof the passage of 15 education bills. However, a conference committee reachedan impasse on provisions of the Higher Education Act of 1965 that would expandcontinuing education programs and would provide greater opportunities forhistorically black colleges to compete for federal funds. Dr. Hewell helpedPowell break the impasse and in the process forced the federal government tobegin closing the gap between white and black education in the United States. “ It also says, “Dr. Hewell served onthe executive board of Delta Sigma Theta sorority and was a life member ofthe National Council of Negro Women. When she retired from government service,she established a second residence in Chattanooga and helped then-Sen. Al Goreclean up a creek that had been described as \"the most polluted andcontaminated\" in the South”……..I wonder if Viola Banton ever had thechance to read LT Hewell’s entry and see just how a “more liberal society” ithad become.
I have traced Viola Banton’s Army travels by the entries inthis book. The first entry in this bookis from “Ma”, 2LT Gladys E. Pace. I assume it was her platoon leader, or one ofthe lead instructors. She tells Viola, “You are off to a good start as aSoldier”. Based on that and other entries around the same date, I believe sheentered the WAC sometime in late 1943, did her basic training with the AfricanAmerican segregated Company 6 of Women’s Army Corp 3rd Regiment, atFort Des Moines, Iowa.
It appears, from there she was stationed at Camp Grube, OK,from about March to February 1945. Camp Grube’s WAC Detachment was made up ofonly African Americans.
There are at least ten entries from Camp Maxey, Texas,dating from 23 December 1944 until 7 June 1945. She may have been assigned tothe 1882nd WAC Detachment.
Entries from 13 October 1945 until 13 September 1946 have noindication of location. During this time she obtained COL Westray Battle Boyce’sauto, and LT Grace L. Hewell, both, according to their biographies, where inthe Europeon Theater during this time. Violareceived at some time a letter from Yorkshire England, expressing how she ismissed. There are also entries in other languages, all suggesting to me thatshe was deployed overseas during this year of her service.
Finally, she spent the remainder of her autograph seekingtime at Fort Ord, CA. I am not sure ifshe was there sick, or if she was there as a nurse. Some entries lead me tobelieve she was ill. But then again others seem to indicate that she wasworking at Station Hospital.
In 1951 she became an honorary citizen of Boy’s Town, FatherFlanagan’s Boy’s Home, for assistance rendered there.
Book measures 6 ½ inches by five inches and is 1 ½ inchesthick. The pages of this book are bright! They are not loose. The entries arenot faded. There are 78 entries in all. There are 20 photographs and somenewspaper clippings. The leather case is worn, and cracking and the zipper istorn. It has been traveled, so I love the condition. To me, it tells just asmuch a story as the words and photos inside!
Please see all photos and scans for condition, and ask anyquestions before offerding! Thank you!
WWII AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN\'S ARMY CORP PHOTOS AUTOGRAPHS CIVIL RIGHTS 1944-1947:
$99.99