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The 1945 Black Wac Strike at Ft. Devens

Bolzenius, Sandra M.

Abstract Details

2013, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, History.
In March 1945, a WAC (Women’s Army Corps) detachment of African Americans stationed at Ft. Devens, Massachusetts organized a strike action to protest discriminatory treatment in the Army. As a microcosm of military directives and black women’s assertions of their rights, the Ft. Devens strike provides a revealing context to explore connections between state policy and citizenship during World War II. This project investigates the manner in which state policies reflected and reinforced rigid distinctions between constructed categories of citizens, and it examines the attempts of African American women, who stood among the nation’s most marginalized persons, to assert their rights to full citizenship through military service. The purpose of this study is threefold: to investigate the Army’s determination to strictly segment its troops according to race and gender in addition to its customary rank divisions; to explore state policies during the war years from the vantage point of black women; and to recognize the agency, experiences, and resistance strategies of back women who enlisted in the WAC during its first years. The Ft. Devens incident showcases a little known, yet extraordinary event of the era that features the interaction between black enlisted women and the Army’s white elite in accordance with standard military protocol. This protocol demanded respect all who wore the uniform, albeit within a force segregated by gender, race, and rank. It is this conflict that gave rise to one of World War II’s most publicized courts-martial, the black Wac strike at Ft. Devens.
Judy Wu (Advisor)
Susan Hartmann (Committee Member)
Tiyi Morris (Committee Member)
Peter Mansoor (Committee Member)
478 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Bolzenius, S. M. (2013). The 1945 Black Wac Strike at Ft. Devens [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1385398294

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Bolzenius, Sandra. The 1945 Black Wac Strike at Ft. Devens. 2013. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1385398294.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Bolzenius, Sandra. "The 1945 Black Wac Strike at Ft. Devens." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1385398294

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)