Английская Википедия:Frances Wills
Шаблон:Short description Шаблон:Infobox person
Frances Eliza Wills (married name: Frances Thorpe; 12 July 1910 – 18 January 1998)[1][2] was an American naval officer and one of the first two African American female officers commissioned by the United States Navy.[3] After her years with the WAVES, she worked as secretary to Langston Hughes.[4][5]
Early life
Frances Eliza Wills was born in Philadelphia.[1] She attended Hunter College in New York City, and subsequently earned a master's degree in social work from the University of Pittsburgh.[1][6] While there, she met the poet and activist Langston Hughes.[1] Wills worked for some years at the YMCA, organizing community events and social aid.[6] She was working in New York as a social worker when approached to enlist with the WAVES.[3]
WAVES
The Women's Reserve force of the US Navy, known as the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service), was established on 30 July 1942.[3] Though many African American women sought to enlist, then Secretary of the US Navy Frank Knox refused their admission.[6][3] Following Knox's sudden death in April 1944, existing pressure from activists was increased, and on October 19, President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized their inclusion in the WAVES - which was to be fully integrated.[3] Frances Wills and Harriet Pickens were chosen as the first African American female recruits.[3] They were enlisted in the WAVES on November 13, 1944.[3]
In her memoir, Wills would recall:
In October 1944 when the Navy said it was ready for me and I said, ‘Take me,’ I was not consciously making a statement about race relations.[7]
Both women were sent to the WAVES training facility in New York City, where Wills became a classification test administrator for the enlisted.[6] By the end of the war, over 70 more African American women had joined the ranks of the WAVES.[6]
Later life
Wills was discharged from the Navy at the end of the war.[3] She later authored a book on her experiences called Navy Blue and Other Colors: a memoir of adventure and happiness.[1][8] This was published under her married name, Francis Wills Thorpe.[1][9] Her husband was Charles L. Thorpe.[2] Wills also became President of the Brooklyn Botanical Garden Auxiliary, in Palm Coast, Florida.[2]
Frances Wills Thorpe died on 18 January 1998.[2] A memorial service was held for her in Sag Harbor, New York.[2]
References
External links
- Английская Википедия
- Страницы с неработающими файловыми ссылками
- 1910 births
- 1998 deaths
- Military personnel from Philadelphia
- 20th-century African-American women
- WAVES personnel
- Страницы, где используется шаблон "Навигационная таблица/Телепорт"
- Страницы с телепортом
- Википедия
- Статья из Википедии
- Статья из Английской Википедии
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