Last updated: January 26, 2023
Person
Isabella Peterson Evans
Courtesy of the Women Veterans Historical Project at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Quick Facts
Significance:
Member of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion and World War Two Veteran
Place of Birth:
Clemson, North Carolina
Date of Birth:
December 6, 1919
Date of Death:
2007
Isabella Peterson was born on December 6, 1919 in Clemson, North Carolina. She was the seventh of thirteen children. She was also the first girl. Her father worked as a blacksmith while her mother was a homemaker. At the age of 12 Peterson was orphaned when her mother died a month after giving birth. Her father died five days later due to a heart attack. Peterson and her siblings moved to Washington, D.C. to live together with an aunt and uncle. After moving to Washington, D.C. Peterson was pushed back two years back in high school. Her favorite subjects were math and science. She graduated in 1940 from Cardozo High School.
After graduating high school Peterson worked as a maid in politicians’ homes. During this time, she also took the civil service exam in hopes of getting a position in the government. Shortly after taking her exam, she accepted a postal clerk position with the Navy. She worked in a temporary building that lined the National Mall before the Pentagon was completed.
After entering World War II, the United States moved to expand its military capacity. In the spring of 1942, the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC), later known as the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) was formed. Peterson enlisted in December of 1942 in Washington, D.C. She completed basic training at Fort Des Moines, Iowa. After basic training she was assigned as a postal clerk at Fort Clark, Texas. While at Fort Clark she married her husband Oscar Edwin Evans. He was a member of the cavalry stationed there. He eventually was deployed overseas to north Africa.
On July 3, 1943, the WAAC was renamed the WAC. All the women who were in the WAAC were given the opportunity to transfer to the WAC or return to civilian life. A majority of WAACs, including Isabella Peterson Evans, chose to transfer to the WAC. About 25 percent decided to return to civilian life. She later transferred to Camp Gruber in Oklahoma as a company clerk.
Evans volunteered for overseas deployment and was assigned to the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. The 6888th, known as the Six Triple Eight, was the only African American WAC unit to go overseas during the war. Their mission was to sort, organize, and direct mail to U.S. servicemen.
On February 3, 1945, the first group of women from the 6888th sailed to Great Britain. The voyage took 11 days, during which they survived close encounters with Nazi U-Boats. They arrived in Glasgow, Scotland, on February 14, 1945. The 6888th was then stationed in Birmingham, England, where they discovered warehouses full of undelivered mail. The unit worked in three shifts around the clock seven days a week to clear the backlog. They adopted the phrase, “No Mail, Low Morale”—mail was the only connection the men fighting on the front lines had with friends and family back home. Before the 6888th, mail delivery was intermittent at best. The morale of the soldiers was waning because they had no connections outside the military.
The women developed a new system of organizing and tracking mail. The system required tracking individual servicemembers by maintaining about seven million information cards. The cards included serial numbers to distinguish different individuals with the same name. They also tried to deliver mail with insufficient information through this system. The hardest part for the unit was returning mail when it was addressed to a servicemember who died. Yet, thanks to their system, they were able to process approximately 195,000 pieces of mail per day. The U.S. Army thought it would take the 6888th six months to clear the mail backlog in Birmingham. The 6888th cleared the back log in three months.
On June 9, 1945, Evans and the rest of the 6888th were transferred to Rouen, France. They were there to clear another mail backlog. In France, the Six Triple Eight worked alongside French civilians and German prisoners of war. In November 1945, Evans sailed back to the United States and was honorably discharged from the WAC at Fort Dix, New Jersey.
After being discharged Evans returned to Washington, D.C. and worked at the main post office over the holiday season. After the holidays she was assigned to a substation nearby. She later moved to Indianapolis, Indiana with her husband when he returned from his military service. Her husband soon reenlisted and fought in the Korean War. While stationed in United States the Evans’ had three children. While Mr. Evans was stationed overseas Mrs. Evans moved back to Washington, D.C. with her children. Isabella P. Evans later retired from the United States government and moved back to North Carolina. She died in 2007.