The Six Triple Eight is the latest movie from actor, director and playwright Tyler Perry. Best known for his classic portrayal of Madea, the feisty and tough older woman who speaks her mind and pulls no punches, Perry’s latest venture deals with a little-known page of World War II history.
It tells the story of Major Charity Adams and the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, the only unit of Black women to serve overseas during World War II. Faced with the seemingly unsurmountable task of delivering millions of pieces of mail to combat troops, the movie demonstrates the determination of a group of women who were initially set up to fail. Major Adams is portrayed by Kerry Washington, who as usual, offers a stellar performance.
Set within the framework of the story of a young Black woman who pines for her boyfriend who has gone to war and then enlists in the military to find him, Perry’s story centers on Major Adams, the commanding officer of the unit, who by the end of the war was the highest ranking African American woman in the army.
Like the 2016 movie Hidden Figures, which tells the story of the Black women who did the math for NASA and helped launch America’s space program, The Six Triple Eight tells the story of racism, sexism, courage and teamwork despite the cards being stacked against the women and their project.
It’s a must-see movie — available on Netflix — especially for young people who have no concept of life in America in the segregated 1940s.
One of the interesting aspects of the story of Major Adams local readers is the Ohio and Cleveland connection.
A native of North Carolina and raised in South Carolina, Adams was a 1938 graduate of Ohio’s Wilberforce College, the first college owned and operated by African Americans, where she majored in math and physics. In 1942, she joined the army, becoming the first African American woman to be an officer in the WAAC.
In 1944, after a particularly difficult Atlantic crossing, she marched her unit into Birmingham, England to oversee the postal directory service unit, responsible for delivering millions of backlogged pieces of mail to soldiers all over Europe.
The importance of mail delivery to the troops and letters from the troops to the home front is illustrated in a scene with President Franklin Roosevelt and military brass. Thanks to urgings from his wife Eleanor, FDR came to recognize the importance of mail from home for the morale of the troops. A cameo appearance by Oprah Winfrey, as activist and FDR kitchen cabinet member Mary McLeod Bethune, adds a nice twist to the historical context of Black Americans during World War II.
The moral of the story is that no one should underestimate the determination of a group of women, particularly Black women, who have a task to complete. They not only got the job done but did it ahead of schedule, despite the obstacles that were put before them, earning the respect of their white comrades on arms.
By the end of the war, Adams had earned the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, the highest ranking African American woman in the military. But leaving the military was not the end of the career and service to the community for Charity Adams. She returned to Ohio and earned an M.A. degree in psychology from The Ohio State University in 1946. In 1949 she married medical student Stanley A. Earley, Jr.
With her military and educational qualifications, she worked at the Veterans Administration right here in Cleveland. She also worked at historically Black colleges in Tennessee and Georgia before returning to Ohio and residing in Dayton, where her husband practiced medicine. She served on the Board of Trustees at Sinclair Community College in Dayton and on the board of directors of Dayton Power and Light, the Dayton Metro Housing Authority and other civic organizations in the Dayton area, always contributing to the community.
Passing away at the age of 83 on January 13, 2002, she was inducted into the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame in 1979 and the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame in 1993.
In 2022, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, the first African American to hold that position, accepted the recommendation to change the name of Fort Lee, Virginia, named after a Confederate soldier, to Fort Gregg-Adams recognizing the service of Lieutenant General Arthur J. Gregg, the first African American to earn the rank of Lieutenant General, and Lieutenant Colonel Charity Adams.
There are many stories of African Americans who served the United States military in every conflict. Sadly, these stories are often forgotten. But thanks to Hollywood, and in this case Tyler Perry, these stories are coming to light and deserving American are receiving their just due.
And the Ohio connection brings the story even closer to home.
C. Ellen Connally is a retired judge of the Cleveland Municipal Court. From 2010 to 2014 she served as the President of the Cuyahoga County Council. An avid reader and student of American history, she is a former member of the Board of the Ohio History Connection, and past president of the Cleveland Civil War Round Table, and is currently vice president of the Cuyahoga County Soldiers and Sailors Monument Commission. She holds degrees from BGSU, CSU and is all but dissertation for a PhD from the University of Akron.
One Response to ““The Six Triple Eight” and Its Ohio Connection by C. Ellen Connally”
SANDRA D. HARPER
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this narrative that highlights Ohio connections to the “6 Triple8.”. The historical highlight of Lt. Col Adams provides important information about an African American leader whose accomplishments will stand out beyond the Hollywood screen and into the memory banks of all Americans. This is American history. Thank you, Judge Ellen Connally.