Black Women in America – Part 41
Over the past year and a half we have related the stories of many great Black Women Firsts. We are thankful for their contributions to society. Countless people have better lives now thanks to the work of the early pioneers in education, writing, art, science, medicine, sports, aeronautics, entertainment, politics, activism, religion, and business.
Times are changing. It is easier for black women to take up a career of their choice now than ever before, though we have a way to go before we can say there is equal opportunity for all. We must keep working on it. My goal in writing these stories is to show that black women can do anything they feel called to do if only given the chance.
But many were the first to bravely enter a new field. We want to admire them and give them credit for their courage. This week we will honor first black women in police, firefighting, and the military.
Georgiana Ann Robinson – (1879-1961) First Police Officer
“I have no regrets. I didn’t need my eyes any longer. I had seen all there was to see.”[1]
Though she was born into poverty and never knew her parents, Georgiana spent her life caring for others less fortunate than herself. Even the blindness in her later life did not prevent her from serving others. The quote above is her response to Ebony Magazine in their 1954 article on her life and her career including her injury. Truly an amazing Black Female First and I feel privileged to write about her.
Georgia Ann Hill was born in Opelousas, Louisiana on May 12, 1879. She never knew her parents. Her sister raised her part of the time and she was helped in a convent until she was 18. Then she moved to Kansas and took a job as a governess. She met and married Morgan Robinson and had a daughter, Marian. The family moved to Leadville, Colorado, then Los Angeles, California.
Georgiana desired to help others and became involved in various community organizations. A Los Angeles Police Department recruiter spotted her and invited her to join the LAPD. Joining as a volunteer on July 25, 1916, Georgiana became the first black policewoman in LAPD history and maybe the United States. Her first job was as a jail matron. Later she became involved in investigation work with juvenile and homicide cases. While doing this she discovered the need for a woman’s shelter. She helped to found the Sojourner Truth[1]Home for the women and girls who had nowhere else to go. She also took destitute women into her own home.
In 1928 while working at the women’s jail Georgiana suffered a severe injury to her head while trying to break up a fight between two drunken women. The injury left her permanently blind. This did not stop her from continuing to serve in her community.
Georgiana was a suffragette and NAACP organizer. She worked with Dr. Claude Hudson, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in the Los Angeles to help desegregate the schools and the beaches. She continued to help in the shelter she founded.
Georgia Ann Robinson died at age 82 on September 12, 1961.
Molly Williams – First Female firefighter (fought fires in 1818)
I am so thankful that we have the story of Molly Williams. We really don’t know much about her life except that she was born into slavery in the 1700’s. She was owned by a New York merchant named Benjamin Aymar. Aymar owned a prosperous company and lived in an opulent mansion. Molly and her husband, Peter lived in the basement. Molly cooked and cleaned and took care of the eight Aymar children. Peter had a job as a sexton at the John Street United Methodist Church in Manhattan’s financial district.
Fire was a constant threat to the city. Many businesses were totally destroyed by a careless spark. Mr. Aymar joined the fledgling fire department in order to protect his company buildings on the Manhattan docks. He often took Molly with him to the Oceanus Engine Co. 11. She cooked for the firefighters and cleaned the station. When one a flu or cholera epidemic broke out she would also nurse the men.
One day in 1818 a fire broke out on William Street. Many of the crew were at home sick with the flu. Molly didn’t hesitate to help out. In her checked apron and calico dress Molly grabbed the rope and helped pull the pumper engine out of the station and joined in with the men on the way to the fire. There she climbed ladders and operated the hand pump. “The other firefighters credited her for being as tough as the male firefighters, ‘as good a fire laddie as many of the boys,’ and accurately so, if not more. When the fire was out, she was asked what engine she belonged to, to which she answered with, ‘I belongs to ole’ Leven; I allers run wid dat ole bull-gine.’ Thus, she earned the name ‘Volunteer 11.’”[2]
And here is what you need to know about this incredible woman – she was 71 years old at the time!!
The picture below is what you will come up with if you go to google images. I don’t think it can be a picture of Molly, but a picture of what a black firefighter in his uniform looked like at the time.
It was a long time before black men were allowed to work alongside the white firefighters. [3] Who knows how long before another black woman as incredible as Molly came along!!
First Black Women in the Military – The Golden Fourteen and the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion
The Golden Fourteen
During the First World War the U.S. government was participating in the racism that was prevalent in the country. The Secretary of the Navy was a documented white supremacist with ties to persecution of blacks. Blacks who served in the military were tyrannized and abused during and after the war.
It was actually a legal technicality that made it possible for black women to serve.[4] Because of a shortage of clerical workers President Woodrow Wilson passed the Naval Reserve Act of 1916 calling for anyone who had skills to join in the defense of the country. Over 11,000 women joined but most were white.
Prejudice prevailed against not only the women but also against black men who were only allowed menial jobs in the military. If you have read some of my other posts, you will have noted that black people were almost always employed in servant positions until the 1960’s. African American men in the navy were messmen or stewards or used to shovel coal in the engine room. They were not given any opportunities to rise in rank.
The Golden Fourteen were fourteen black women who served in the U.S. Navy during World War I. They worked as yeomen (and were called yeomanettes, note the diminutive) and handled clerical and administrative work. “They had access to official military records, including the work assignments and locations of sailors.”[5] We don’t have as many details as we would like, but it seems that all 14 women worked in the same office under officer John T. Risher.
“The Golden 14 were assigned to the U.S.S. Triton and based permanently stateside.”[6]They were never at sea not only due to their race, but their gender. In an article from the National Archives, you can get many interesting details about the women including the complete roster of 14 names and some further details about what happened to them. After her honorable discharge Kathryn Finch, for example, went on to work at a U.S. Post Office until 1933.
These brave women deserve praise and honor for coming to the aid of their country in spite of all of the roadblocks thrown at them.
The All-Black Woman Battalion in WWII – the “Six Triple Eight”- Major Charity Adams Earley, First Black Female Officer in the Army
Just as an action from President Wilson was needed to admit blacks into the military during WWI, it took an executive order from President Roosevelt to lift the ban on black participation during WWII. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Black Educator Mary McLeod Bethune[7]pushed for inclusion of black women in the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) which had been created in 1942. Many people were against allowing women in combat, but thousands of women served in clerical positions, baking, mechanics, secretarial work, postal work and switchboard operation.
Billions of pieces of mail were sent overseas to the 8 million Americans who were stationed in Europe. At times there was a huge backlog and military officers were reporting a decrease in moral because of it. The all black, all female 6888th, nicknamed the “Six Triple Eight” was formed to take on the daunting task of sorting through the huge stack of mail that included some letters mailed years before.
Major Charity Adams Earley, the First black woman to become an officer in the army, was sent to Britain to get the mail sorted. They asked her to do it in six months; Major Earley and the 855 black American women in the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion did it in three. Since space is limited here, I highly recommend you read this article by Sidonie Talla Mafotsing for more of the story including what happened to the women both during their service and after the war. Here is what the brave, intrepid 6888th had to deal with:
“Once the 6888th reached Birmingham by train, the women found themselves dwarfed by massive piles of mail in the facilities, which included six airplane hangars. On paper, the task, though huge, seemed simple enough—organize the packages and letters to be delivered to the right people—but there were complications. In poorly lit and unheated buildings, they had to sort through mail that sometimes only contained first names, nicknames, and common names like “Robert Smith.” They worked in shifts and processed an average of 65,000 pieces of mail per day until the job was finished, ahead of schedule. The next deployment was to Rouen, France, where they also finished clearing out a backlog of two to three years mail, with the help of French civilians and German prisoners of war. By February 1946, the remaining women of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion returned to the United States and the unit was disbanded at Fort Dix, New Jersey. By the end of their mission, the battalion had sorted through 17 million pieces of mail. Even though Major Adams was promoted to lieutenant colonel upon her return, the 6888th was given no public recognition or welcome ceremony.
The women of the 6888th report that they felt as though they were treated better abroad than they were at home. The experience of returning home was incredibly demoralizing for many of the Black men and women who spent years risking their lives abroad. ‘Most white Americans, when the military part of the war ended, wanted to go back to the way things used to be,’ Delmont says. ‘It was the exact opposite of what Black Americans wanted when they returned home.’ While white veterans were commemorated and welcomed with celebration, Black veterans and service workers, including the women of the 6888th, felt as though they had been cast aside. ‘They got home and people acted like they hadn’t done anything, like they hadn’t also sacrificed to win the war,’ says Delmont.”[8]
The women received a few medals for their work, but broad recognition did not come for their work until 2009. Three surviving members were honored at a commemoration ceremony at the Women’s Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. Still another nine years later, 2018 a monument dedicated to the 6888th was built at the Buffalo Soldier Monument Park in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. In 2022, President Biden awarded the battalion the Congressional Gold Medal. I think that was very nice, but way too late to honor the women themselves. Shame on our country for waiting so long to honor these women.
A film directed by Tyler Perry, starring Kerry Washington and Oprah Winfrey I in the works, called Six Triple Eight. It will be on Netflix. I will see it as soon as it’s out!![9]
It is disgraceful how we have treated black Americans. I am thankful that changes are being made to improve life for all minorities. We still have a long way to go though when it takes seventy-five years to recognize the patriotic actions of black men and women.
Next time we will honor more Black Women Firsts in other categories we have not touched on – Librarian, Beauty Pageant, and Communications.
[1] For more information on Sojourner Truth see post on April 8, 2022, https://authormarywalker.com/sojourner-truth-free-indeed/
[2] From: https://sofrep.com/news/remembering-molly-williams-first-black-female-firefighter/
[3] You can read more about New York’s first black firefighters in an article by Ginger Adams Otis at: https://www.thehistoryreader.com/hist…/black-firefighters/
[4] You can read more about this here: Shaune Lee, “Women at War: The Navy’s First African American Yeomanettes”. https://boundarystones.weta.org/2018/08/07/women-war-navys-first-african-american-yeomanettes
[5] From an article by Giulia Heyward, December 15,2020: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/hidden-history-black-women-navy
[6] From “Rediscovering Black History” https://rediscovering-black-history.blogs.archives.gov/2020/11/09/golden-14/
[7] For more about Mary McLeod Bethune see my post on: https://authormarywalker.com/mary-mcleod-bethune-educator-and-leader/
[8] From: Sidonie Talla Mafotsing, https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/all-black-women-battalion-wwii-6888th
[9] Find details about the upcoming film here: https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/tyler-perry-new-netflix-movie-six-triple-eight
