Dovey Johnson (left) was one of the first African American women to volunteer for the Women's Army Auxiliary Corp (WAAC) in the summer of 1942.
She knew what was at stake better than any of the other black women officer candidates because she had been privy to inside wrangling at the U.S. War Department.
Dovey worked as an assistant to Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, who was the only African American in President Franklin D. Roosevelt's cabinet. When Congress approved the WAAC, Dr. Bethune demanded that black
women, not only be allowed to enlist, but to be trained as officers right along beside white women.
At first, Dr. Bethune's logic fell on deaf ears, but she convinced Eleanor Roosevelt that black women deserved equal opportunity, and the First Lady convinced her husband.
Dr. Bethune had long been a family friend, but when Dovey went to work for her, she had no idea the plan was for her to join the army!
Here's an excerpt of an interview with Dovey Johnson Roundtree seven decades later. She talks about rumors the women of the WAAC were meant to be "companions" for the
soldiers.
