First African-American WAVES Officers to Graduate

Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Harriet Ida Pickens (left) and Ensign Frances Wills, photographed after graduation from the Naval Reserve Midshipmen’s School (WR) at Northampton, Massachusetts, in December 1944. They were members of the school’s final class, and were the Navy’s first African-American WAVES officers.

Photo size: 2400 × 3000
Photo source: Naval History and Heritage Command
Usage: Public Domain