Fort Huachuca During WWII
Minority Service Members:
Female Service at Fort Huachuca

 

Panel Images and Text, including image descriptions for visually impaired website visitors

(title) Female Service at Fort Huachuca:
(Body) On December 4, 1942, the 32nd and 33rd Post Headquarters Companies became the first all-Black Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) assigned to a military post during World War II. They were recruited from all 48 states plus territories.

In January 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed legislation making the newly renamed Women’s Army Corps (WAC) officially part of the U.S. Army. Now women had all of the rank, privileges, and benefits of their male counterparts. Their work was to “free a man to fight.”

WACs performed as stenographers, typists, telephone switchboard operators, teachers, clerks, messengers, receptionists, motor pool drivers, and mechanics. The 32nd and 33rd Companies disbanded in late 1945.

Out of the nearly 500 Black nurses who served in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during WWII, many were trained and stationed at Fort Huachuca. Often, they were assigned to POW Camps.

Image Captions and Descriptions:
(Left) Top to Bottom:

1. Recent recruits for foreign service.
   An informal image of about a dozen women in skirted suit uniforms, several holding suitcases, gathered next to a bus. They appear to be smiling and chatting.
   (Courtesy of the Jack Miller Collection of Photos at Boston Public Library)
2. WACs in motor pool, 1943.
   Two servicewomen in jumpsuits and hats are rolling an oil barrel. They appear to be in a building, such as a garage.
   (Courtesy of U.S. Army Women’s Museum)
3. WAAC cooks prepare dinner for first time in new  kitchen, Dec. 1942.
   Three adults in white food-service uniforms stand behind a counter and appear to be preparing food. A fourth adult, wearing an apron, has her back to the camera. Above the prep station is a rack with utensils.
   (Courtesy of National Archives)
4. Second Officers Irma Cayton C.O. and Violet Askins, Exec O. after morning roll call.
   Two women wearing uniform shirts and ties are together in an office. One woman is seated at a desk; they other is standing nearby. They are both looking at an open book.
   (Courtesy of the Library of Congress)

(Right) Top to Bottom:

1. WACs for overseas duty.
   Eleven women in uniform jackets and skirts stand together on an open field, smiling at the camera. One- and two-story buildings are visible in the background.
   (Courtesy of the Jack Miller Collection of Photos at Boston Public Library)
2. WAACs in “recreational” costumes marching in review.
   An indistinct image of two groups of women in uniform dresses walk in formation across the mid-ground. Trees and mountains are in the background.
   (Courtesy of The Apache Sentinel, Library of Congress)
3. Ruth Wade & Lucille Mayo working on trucks.
   Two women in uniform jumpsuits and caps are working on the engine compartment of a truck.
   (Courtesy of U.S. Signal Corps)
4. Some of the Fort’s “Florence Nightingales.”
   Seven women wearing white uniforms and dark capes stand, smiling, in a row. A one-story building with horizontal siding is in the background.
   (Courtesy of The Apache Sentinel, Library of Congress)
5. WACs trying for 100 words a minute!
   Women are seated at a desk, each with a typewriter.
   (Courtesy of The Apache Sentinel, Library of Congress)
6. WAACs at Fort Huachuca.
   A beautiful image of servicewomen standing in formation with hills in the background.
   (Courtesy of the Fort Huachuca Museum)

(Footer) This panel has been donated by the Arizona State Society Daughters of the American Revolution (2024).

Marker Date:
2024

Dedicated:
April 25, 2024

Sponsor:
Arizona State Society, DAR

To continue the walking tour, please return to the visitors’ guide.