Preview Wac (1 results)

Condition: Very good +. 7" x 5", opens to 7" x 20". Single sheet, printed both sides and folded accordion style to make an 8-panel pamphlet. Pp. [8]. Very good plus: a touch of corner wear; two small dings to rear panel. This is rare promotional featuring a photographic image of an integrated class of the Women's Army Corps (WAC). While Executive Order 9981, which directed the desegregation of the United States Armed Forces, wasn't issued by President Truman until July 1948, the WAC was at least partially racially mixed from the get-go. Per the United States Army's website, 40 of the first 440 women selected to attend the first WAC Officer Candidate School (OCS) in July 1942 were African American. Once OCS ended, the officers were then segregated. In When the Nation was in Need: Blacks in the Women's Army Corps During World War II (Metuchen: Scarecrow Press, 1992), author (and former WAC) Martha S. Putney reported on other examples, as well as the rampant racism and job discrimination faced by Black WACs. This brochure, which was reprinted from the Army's Recruiting Journal in 1951, is likely one of the earliest uses of integration in the service's marketing. A history on the United States Air Force's website conveyed: "As the United States engaged in the Korean War, manpower was at a premium. By 1951, the Army's nine training divisions were integrated, and Black recruitment was on the rise." The pamphlet presents a variety of arguments for women to join the WAC, including a pay scale, examples of "over 140 different jobs" and the "opportunity to show her initiative, her leadership, her alertness." One of the four large, striking photographic images shows a line of WACs about to receive their graduation certificate, and one of the seven women is African American. Rare marketing material for female military recruitment, with a special nod towards African Americans. No holdings of this brochure were located in OCLC or online.