Lt. Col. Charity Adams Earley | |
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Birth name | Charity Edna Adams |
Born | December 5, 1918 Kittrell, North Carolina, U.S. |
Died | January 13, 2002 Dayton, Ohio, U.S. | (aged 83)
Buried | Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum |
Allegiance | United States of America |
Service | |
Years of service | 1942 − 1946 |
Rank | Lieutenant Colonel |
Unit | 3rd Company, 3rd Training Regiment WAAC, Fort Des Moines |
Commands | 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion |
Awards |
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Monuments | Namesake of Fort Gregg-Adams |
Spouse(s) | Stanley A. Earley (m.1949) |
Other work | Educator |
Charity Adams Earley (December 5, 1918 – January 13, 2002) was an American United States Army officer. She was the first African-American woman to be an officer in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (later WACs) and was the commanding officer of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, which was made up of African-American women serving overseas during World War II. Adams was the highest-ranking African-American woman in the army by the completion of the war.
A monument honoring her was dedicated at Fort Leavenworth on November 30, 2018. Fort Gregg-Adams was renamed in honor of Earley and Arthur J. Gregg in 2023, the first-ever U.S. military based bearing the names of African Americans.