# @americanredcross on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DHJh4IKA16Y
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/72588863-americanredcross-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/c59d894cf3.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-03-13T18:03:38.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** American Red Cross (@americanredcross) — https://gondola.cc/americanredcross

## Caption

Let’s salute Charity Adams Earley, a courageous and trailblazing educator, humanitarian and soldier who made history as the highest-ranking Black woman officer during World War II. 

Charity led the first African American unit of the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) on a tour of duty overseas. Her unit, known as the Six Triple Eight, was assigned to organize and direct a backlog of millions of pieces mail to and from U.S. servicemen.

The women worked around the clock in rotating shifts, seven days a week, handling tens of thousands of pieces of mail per day. The Six Triple Eight was given the nearly impossible task of sorting and delivering this mail in six months — they got it done in three.

Charity also raised morale for her unit by creating beauty parlors where servicewomen, nurses and Red Cross workers could relax and socialize.

In addition to her impressive military career, Charity gave her talents to the Red Cross. She raised money for the organization in college and later started her volunteer journey in Dayton, Ohio. She went on to become the chapter’s first woman chair in 1965 and moved up to serve two terms on our National Board of Governors.

Charity maintained a relationship with the Dayton chapter throughout her life. She was trained on how to help communities after disasters. She recognized that the Red Cross was always there when people lost their homes.

Charity fought back against discrimination throughout her life and career, and that included early moments with the Red Cross. She first tried to join the Junior Red Cross in South Carolina at 12 years old but was turned away. After her fifth attempt, she was finally accepted.

Even with the challenges she faced, Charity felt that the work of the Red Cross was essential and was proud of her actions that broke barriers. She encouraged young people to learn about opportunities at their local chapters. 

We celebrate and are grateful for Charity’s leadership and perseverance that helped pave the way for other Black and African American women in the military and the Red Cross.

#WomensHistoryMonth #BlackHistory #RedCrossHistory #Archives #WomenInTheMilitary #TheSixTripleEight #Oscars2025

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## Tags

blackhistory, womeninthemilitary, oscars2025, redcrosshistory, thesixtripleeight, archives, womenshistorymonth

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