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. WAVES women were restricted to service with the US, but African American women were excluded. Though many tried to enlist, then Secretary of the US Navy
Frank Knox refused their admission. From early 1944, thanks to the efforts of activists and advocates including the
NAACP, African American men were able to enlist in the officer corps, but African American women remained excluded. Following Knox's sudden death in April 1944, the pressure was increased, and on October 19, President
Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized their inclusion in the WAVES - which was to be fully integrated. Harriet Pickens, along with social worker Frances Wills, were chosen as the first African American female recruits. Pickens and Wills were enlisted in the WAVES on November 13, 1944, and, having completed their training, became officers 26 December that year. Both were sent to the WAVES training facility at
Hunter College in the
Bronx, New York City, where Pickens was assigned to the physical training program. Commissioned as a lieutenant, Pickens was the first African American woman to achieve this rank. She also worked as director of the Navy Material Redistribution and Disposal Administration in New York. They remained with the WAVES until
the war's end. == After the Navy ==