Harriet Ida Pickens, born March 17, 1909 in Talladega, Alabama, and Frances Wills, born July 12, 1910 in Philadelphia, Pennyslvania, were the first two African American female officers to be commissioned by the US Navy.
The WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) was established in 1942 during WWII, and many African American women wanted to enlist. Then-Secretary of the US Navy Frank Knox refused their admission, following his death in April 1944, President Franklin Roosevelt authorized their inclusion in the WAVES. Pickens and Wills were the first African American women chosen as recruits. They were enlisted on November 13, 1944.
Pickens passed away in 1969 in New York City after a stroke. Wills died in January 1998 in New York City.
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