#blackwomen

Ella Fitzgerald et al v. Pan American
Racism or “honest mistake”?

By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs

Born 105 years ago today, April 25, 1917, jazz singer extraordinaire Ella Fitzgerald faced discrimination on tour in 1954. En route to a concert in Australia she was denied the right to board a Pan American flight. She had to spend three days in Hawaii before other transportation to Australia could be secured, and she missed her concert dates.

She sued Pan Am claiming racism and seeking financial compensation. Pan Am claimed it was “an honest mistake” due to a reservation mix-up. The district judge dismissed the complaint, but the plaintiffs appealed. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed that decision, ruling in favor of the plaintiffs.

New York Times, 12/31/1954.

Complaint, Ella Fitzgerald, John Lewis, Georgiana Henry, and Norman Granz v. Pan American, Inc., 12/23/1954 Records of U.S. District Courts (NARA ID 2641486)

President Gerald R. Ford and First Lady Betty Ford with Ella Fitzgerald at White House Bicentennial concert 6/20/1976, Ford Library, NARA ID 7840021.

Ella Fitzgerald Performs at the White House State Dinner for King Juan Carlos I of Spain, 10/13/1981, Reagan Library, NARA ID 75855955.

More online:

• DocsTeach: Complaint in the Case of Fitzgerald v. Pan American Airways, 12/23/1954
• DocsTeach: Judgment in the Case of Fitzgerald v. Pan American World Airways, 1/26/1956
• Hear Fitzgerald discuss this incident, the lawsuit, and her legal victory: Ella Fitzgerald kicked off a plane because of her race: CBC Archives.

“Somewhere in England, Maj. Charity E. Adams,…and Capt. Abbie N. Campbell, …inspect the first contingent of Negro members of the Women’s Army Corps assigned to overseas service.” 2/15/1945. NARA ID 16214.

Women’s Auxiliary Corps Captain Adams drills her company 5/1943. NARA ID 531334.

“The negro WAC battalion’s first parade on the continent. Rouen, France.” 5/27/1945. NARA ID 175539237

Black Female WWII Unit Gets (Congressional) GOLD!

WWII’s 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion

By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs

“Tech. Sgt. Tommye Berry, Acting 1st Sgt. of the Negro WAC group” 4/16/1945. NARA ID 535929.

The Women’s Army Corps (WAC) was signed into law by President Roosevelt and set to active duty status on July 1, 1943, but this group did not include Black women. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Civil Rights icon Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune (see: related Tumblr post) advocated for the inclusion of Black women who were eager to contribute to the war effort.

Finally, approval was gained, volunteers enlisted, and the battalion trained at Fort Oglethorpe, GA. In February 1945, the women of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion (the self-proclaimed “Six Triple Eight”) deployed - becoming the only all-Black, all-female unit to serve in Europe in WWII. They were led by Major Charity Adams, the highest-ranking Black woman in the US Army during WWII.

The 6888th organized and sorted mail for delivery to U.S. soldiers in Europe. They worked around the clock, fighting not only the mail backlog but also racism, sexism—and the Third Reich.

On March 14, 2022, President Biden signed a bill into law to award the women of the 6888th Battalion a Congressional Gold Medal “in recognition of their pioneering military service, devotion to duty, and contributions to increase the morale of personnel stationed in the European theater of operations during World War II.” Award ceremony date TBA.

The 6888th by the numbers:

• 855 - # of Black women in the 6888th
• 3 - # of months it took them to clear a 6-month backlog of mail.
• 3 separate 8-hour shifts, 7 days a week - work hours.
• 65,000 - # of pieces of mail processed per shift
• 17 million - # of pieces of mail processed by the conflict’s end.
• 77 years - # of years wait for these women to be honored by Congress

The 6888th faced overflowing warehouses stacked with letters and packages for anxiously awaiting GIs. The women of the 6888th knew the importance of such connections to the soldiers and embraced as their motto: “no mail, low morale.” Facing huge volumes of “undeliverable” mail, they developed a tracking system using 7 million servicemember ID cards to correctly route the letters and package.

“The women of ‘Six Triple Eight’ confronted warehouses stacked to the ceiling with letters and packages. These buildings were unheated and dimly lit, the windows blacked out to prevent light showing during nighttime air raids. Rats sought out packages of spoiled cakes and cookies,”the Army said.

Example of the backlog of vast quantities of Christmas mail en route to American soldiers.” NARA ID 111-SC-197654.

“WACs sort packages, taken from the mail sacks by French civilian employees, at the 17th Base Post Office. Paris, France.” NARA ID 175539203.

Continuing legacy of the 6888th:

The 6888th returned to the United States in February 1946 and was disbanded without any public appreciation or official recognition of their work. However, their accomplishments led the General Board, United States Forces European Theater, to note in their December 1945 study of the Women’s Army Corps: “[T]he national security program is the joint responsibility of all Americans irrespective of color or sex” and “the continued use of colored, along with white, female military personnel is required in such strength as is proportionately appropriate to the relative population distribution between colored and white races.”

11/30/2018: monument in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas was made in their honor.

2/25/2009: The 6888th women were honored Arlington National Cemetery’s Women in Military Service for America Memorial.

“Post exchange officer serves the first Coca Cola to Major Charity Adams at the grand opening of the WAC battalion’s new snack bar. Rouen, France.” NARA ID 175539159.

President Obama greets Alyce Dixon, the oldest living Black American WW2 veteran, in the Oval Office, 10/27/2014. NARA ID 176552374.

See also:

• Washington Post story on Romay Johnson Davis: She joined the only Black female unit sent overseas in WWII. Now 102, she’s the oldest living member.
• No Mail, Low Morale: The 6888th Central Postal Battalion,Unwritten Record
• Their War Too: US Women in the Military During WWII,The Text Message
• Pictures of African Americans During World War II
• African American Women in the Military During WWII, Blog Post
• 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, US Army Center of Military History
• The SixTripleEight: No Mail, Low Morale, The National WWII Museum
• Women of the 6888th Central Postal Battalion
• H.R.1012 – ‘Six Triple Eight’ Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2021, Congress

The 4th in our series celebrating Black History Month (Feb) and Women’s History Month (March).

• We honor WW2’s #InvisibleWarriors!
• Fannie Lou Hamer “Nobody’s free until everybody’s free.“
• Mary McLeod Bethune to Return to Capitol Hill

Clark Atlanta University

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