Franklin Delano Roosevelt the 32nd president of the USA instructed the Navy to accept African-American women into the WAVES. The first African-American WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) a division of the U.S. Navy created during World War II to free up male personnel for sea duty officers, were Lieutenant Harriet Ida Pickens and Ensign Frances Wills, who were commissioned on December 21, 1944. The recruitment of African-American women began the following week.
Source: blackfacts.com
