Collection finding aid (offsite)
Myrtle A. Rhoden (1921-2005) of New York City, served in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) and the Women's Army Corp (WAC) from 1941 to 1945. She was assigned to the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, whose members were women of color, primarily African American.. Myrtle A. Rhoden was born in New York City on July 17, 1921, to Jamaican natives, and raised in Harlem. After graduation from high school, she trained as a beautician and worked in a beauty parlor. Rhoden enlisted in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) and was sent to Fort Des Moines, Iowa, for basic training as a member of a segregated unit in 1942. She was then stationed at Fort Clark, Texas, where she did administrative work in a hospital and sang with an army band. In August of 1943, she reenlisted in the Women's Army Corp (WAC) and was later transferred to Camp Gruber, Oklahoma. She was then assigned to overseas duty and traveled on the Ile de France to Glasgow, Scotland, after which the troops were transferred by train to Birmingham, England. There, Rhoden sorted mail until she was transferred to Rouen, France, several months later. Rhoden returned stateside and was discharged in late 1945. Folowing her military service, Rhoden worked in a Civil Service job in New York for several years, and later went to work for IBM, retiring from there after twenty-one years of service. She settled in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1993. Rhoden was active in the 369th Veterans Association of New York as one of only a few women in the branch. She died in October 2005.