A couple of weeks ago, we featured a profile of Harriet Pickens with the promise to also do one about Frances Wills.
Amsterdam News has been reporting the news of the day from a Black perspective for 113 years. Donors who choose to give monthly or annually will receive Amsterdam News’ Weekly E-Edition and acclaimed weekday newsletter Editorially Black to their inbox!Ens. Frances Wills, one of first “Negro Waves” to be commissioned; member of final graduating class at Naval Reserve Midshipmen’s School , Northampton, Mass.
Wills had returned to New York City and was working as a social worker when she enlisted with the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service , which was established in July 1942. Many African American women sought to join the WAVES, but were rejected by U.S. Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox. When Knox died suddenly in April 1944, it led to a renewed effort by Black women for admission. By that October, President Franklin D.
Here is an excerpt from the prologue: “On the morning of July 10, 1987, I was waiting for an elevator on the banquet floor of the Marriott Hotel in Chicago…It was my first time and first day ever to participate in a reunion of Navy women. I stood near the elevators, plotting how best to locate Chris, assistant to the reserve officer who was responsible for the logistics of this meeting.
“The commander stood to introduce the dais guests and had no problem until she came to the very end—me. This time she was able to say without hesitation, ‘the first black’— but then, after a pause, she finished with ‘yeoman.’ Someone nearby must have sent her a strong signal because she corrected immediately, in a firm tone, to ‘officer.
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