In the name of freedom: remembering black women in the Women’s Army Corps

Abstract

This thesis examines the double minority status of black women and their experiences in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps/Women’s Army Corps during World War II.I argue that the combination of racial and gendered segregation directly influenced black women’s service and contributed to an array of issues that complicated their relationship with the Army. .I do so by investigating women’s motivations for joining the WAC, structural and cultural barriers to black women’s enlistment and service, instances where black women were barred from recruitment, the Army and War Department’s approach and response to discrimination toward black women, the trivialization of black women’s labor and bodies, and black women’s advocacy for themselves in the face of continual discrimination from the Army and the WAC.