The Dayton VA Medical Center is renaming its Women’s Clinic after Lt. Col. Charity Adams Earley.
Adams Earley was the first African American female officer in the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps. She also commanded the first battalion of Black women to serve overseas during World War II.
She died in 2002 at 83 years old.
According to the Dayton VA, after getting out of the Army, Adams Earley worked at the VA in Cleveland and various colleges. She married and in 1952 she and her husband settled in Dayton.
She served on the board of directors of Dayton Power and Light, Dayton Metro Housing Authority and Dayton Opera Company. She was on the board of governors of the American Red Cross and the board of trustees at Sinclair Community College. She volunteered for the United Way, the United Negro College Fund, the Urban League and the YWCA. She was the founder of the Black Leadership Development Program in Dayton in 1982.
On June 12, before renaming ceremony, there will be a women’s health fair and screening of the documentary “SixTripleEight” about the Army battalion Adams Early commanded during World War II.
There will be a women's health fair from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. At 3 p.m., the renaming ceremony will begin.
