Breakthroughs for Black Military Women
Written by: Judith Bellafaire, Ph.D., Curator
Women In Military Service For America Memorial Foundation, Inc.
history@womensmemorial.org
1948 |
First Lieutenant Nancy C. Leftenant was the first black woman to become a member of the Regular Army Nurse Corps in March—she had joined the Reserve Corps in February 1945. |
1951 |
The first three black women commissioned as officers (Second Lieutenants) in the Air Force were Edwina Martin of Danville, Virginia; Fannie Jean Cotton of Jackson, Michigan; and Evelyn M. Brown of Shreveport, Louisiana. All three graduated from the Air Force Officer Candidate School at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. |
1964 |
Margaret E. Bailey, Army Nurse Corps, was the first nurse to be promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. |
1967 |
Captain Clara Adams-Ender became the first female in the US Army to qualify for and be awarded the Expert Field Medical Badge. |
1969 |
Captain Diane Lindsay, Army Nurse Corps, was the first black nurse to receive the Soldier’s Medal for Heroism. |
1970 |
Lieutenant Colonel Margaret E. Bailey, Army Nurse Corps, became the first black nurse to hold the rank of Colonel. |
1972 |
Mildred C. Kelly became the first black female E9 (Sergeant Major) in the US Army. |
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Staff Sergeant Joyce B. Malone became the first black woman to earn Airborne Wings in the US Army Reserves. |
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Lieutenant Colonel Clara Adams-Ender became the first woman in the US Army to earn the Master of Military Art and Science degree from the Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. |
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Brigadier General Hazel W. Johnson-Brown became the first black woman general officer and the first black Chief of the Army Nurse Corps. |
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Irene Trowell-Harris became the first black female general officer in the National Guard. |
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Brigadier General Marcelite Harris, USAF, was promoted to major general, the first black woman to attain this rank. |
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US Army Sergeant Danyell Wilson became the first black woman to earn the prestigious job of guarding the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery. |