Haley Bowlng McCoy
201 Shannon Ct. Lexington, KY 40511
Home Phone: (606) 627-1842 Email: haleysmccoy@gmail.com |
Military Pioneer 1919—1944
Anna Mac Clarke didn't put up with second-class treatment from anybody, including the U.S. Army. A native of Lawrenceburg, Clarke graduated from Kentucky State College in 1941. Rejecting domestic work—the only job a black college graduate could get in Lawrenceburg in those days—she left Kentucky to work at a Girl Scout Camp in New York state.
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Clarke volunteered for the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (renamed Women's Army Corps in 1943). During officer's training in Iowa, she led the successful opposition to a proposal to segregate black soldiers into their own regiment. At Douglas Army Airfield in Arizona, Lieutenant Clarke made history when she became the first black WAC officer to command a white unit. And she made national news after her protest against segregated seating in the base theater convinced the commanding officer to ban segregation on the base. Just a few weeks later, Clarke died of complications from a ruptured appendix. She was 24. |