Lt. j.g. Harriet Ida Pickens and Ens. Frances Wills became the first black women commissioned as officers in the WAVES (1944). Pickens, who graduated as the top ranking member of her officer candidate program class, served as a physical training instructor while Wills was assigned as a classification test administrator. By the time World War II ended in 1945, Pickens and Wills were the only two black women officers among the Navy’s 86,000 WAVES.

Last Updated: 29 March 2023