13 minute read
veteran valor: celebrating women’s history month
Celebrating Women’s History Month
Lt. Anna Mac Clarke: A Patriot & Pioneer
BY HEATHER FRENCH HENRY COURTESY PHOTOS
Heather French Henry is a nationally renowned veterans’ advocate, designer, and author. She focuses on highlighting veteran’s stories, curating historical exhibits, and designing products for retailers and organizations nationwide. heatherfrenchhenry.com
Anna Mac Clarke, born in Lawernceburg, KY, was the fi rst African American woman from the Commonwealth to join the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC.) In her short life, she became a pioneer in military leadership and in ending segregation on military bases.
“M ost Kentuckians didn’t agree with the inclusion and equality of blacks and women,” states Pamela Stevenson, a Kentucky African American woman who retired from the US Air Force as a Colonel after 27 years of service. “Anna Mae persevered and was willing to face the harshest of challenges to make sure that we were included.”
Clarke graduated from Lawrenceburg High School in 1937 and then attended Kentucky State College, now Kentucky State University, earning a bachelor’s degree in both sociology and economics in 1941. Shortly after the invasion of Pearl Harbor, she joined the military. In 1942, Clarke was sent to train with the United States Army Fifth Service Command’s Signal Corps School in Cincinnati, Ohio. After offi cially becoming a WAAC on October 3, 1942, she boarded the train to the First WAAC Training Center at Fort Des Moines, Iowa, the largest training center for African-Americans.
There, Clarke completed her four-week Basic Training course just prior to Christmas 1942. It was during her training that the Offi cer Candidate School was desegregated. Within two weeks, Clarke became a candidate in the 15th Offi cer Class, WAAC OCS Program. By February 1943, she was reassigned to the Fourth Company, Third Regiment, as a Platoon Leader. Clarke was the fi rst African-American WAAC in history to be assigned to command an all-white unit. She then led a unit of 144 African-American WAACs at Wakeman General Hospital at Camp Atterbury before being sent to work in the Classifi cation and Assignment Department of WAAC headquarters in Washington, D.C. She then enrolled in the Adjutant General’s School at Fort Meade, Maryland, and was assigned to Chicago’s WAAC recruiting program. Clarke was promoted to Second Offi cer on July 16, 1943, and returned to Fort Des Moines as the Army was transforming the auxiliary units of WAAC into the Regular Army making Clarke
Kentucky Artist Amanda Brooks painted Anna Mac Clarke as part of her HERstory: A Selection Of Kentucky’s Heroes SKyPAC exhibit in 2020. a member of the new Women’s Army Corps (WAC) in September 1943.
On February 7, 1944, Clarke was assigned to lead the fi rst WAC unit at Douglas Army Air Field located in Arizona which was one of only four to have both African-American soldiers and WACs. At that time, the theater on the post was still segregated and Clarke was warned not to go. However, she and several women went to the theater, refusing to sit in the “Colored” section. News of this incident reached the commanding offi cer of Douglas Army Air Field, Colonel Harvey Dyer. Colonel Dyer quickly issued an order to his offi cers “to educate properly all enlisted and civilian personnel in your respective departments to accept any colored WACs assigned as you would any white enlisted man or enlisted woman in the Army of the United States. Every consideration, respect, courtesy and toleration will be afforded every colored WAC. No discrimination will be condoned.”
“This demonstrates her power, grace and commitment to transforming how women and blacks were allowed to contribute,” declares Stevenson. “She is a hero because she was willing to live for something bigger than self with no fanfare and little support. She performed in a hostile environment for the greater good of all.”
A few months later on April 19, 1944, Clarke died at the age of 24 due to complications from a surgical procedure.
Lt. Anna Mac Clarke’s service and contributions will never be forgotten.
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Teacher – Franklin Square Elementary School
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Attorney at Law – Frost Brown Todd LLC
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Sales Executive
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