s history month CELEBRATING, HONORING, RECOGNIZING WOMEN Cook-Fesperman leads talk on Black women in WWII

by Eric Lockwood IV Leader Staff

In honor of Women's History Month, Amanda Cook Fesperman, political science and history instructor at IVCC, hosted a Brown Bag Presentation titled, “The Women's Army Auxiliary Corps in WWII: Special Focus on the All-Black WAAC 6888th."

According to Cook Fesperman, the all-Black 6888th unit of the WAAC was given an impossible task in the United Kingdom

After their motion-sickness filled voyage, during which their boat was chased by a German U-Boat, the 6888th arrived at their housing in England.

"It's an abandoned school," Cook Fesperman stated. "It's not being used because of the war. It has no hot water, it has no functioning electricity... it's leaky, it's damp."

Next came the difficult task assigned to the 6888th, which they were given six months to complete.

"Some people believe that they picked the Black women because they thought that they would fail," Cook Fesperman explained.

"They were set up to deal with two years of backlogged mail sitting in six hangers in England that they had to try to sort through and figure out how to deliver."

The unit worked day and night, dealing with rats and cockroaches, and trying to figure out whom each letter should be delivered to. Cook Fesperman mentioned some letters were addressed as vaguely as "Johnny, in England."

"They took six hangers full of mail, they sorted it, and they delivered it correctly within three months, and people were stunned."

The 6888th was then sent to France, where they had to repeat the process with three years’ worth of mail. Once again, they completed their assignment.

"It was really an amazing time for these women because they got the opportunity to not only prove