Charity Adams Earley

Lt. Col.

Charity Adams Earley
Lt. Col.; Charity Adams Earley
Birth name	Charity Edna Adams
Born	December 5, 1918; Kittrell, North Carolina, U.S.
Died	January 13, 2002 (aged 83); Dayton, Ohio, U.S.
Buried	Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum
Allegiance	United States of America
Service / branch	Women's Army Auxiliary Corps; United States Army;
Years of service	1942 − 1946
Rank	Lieutenant Colonel
Unit	3rd Company, 3rd Training Regiment WAAC, Fort Des Moines
Commands	6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion
Awards	Ohio Women's Hall of Fame; The Smithsonian Institution's 100 Most Important Black Women in History; South Carolina Black Hall of Fame; Service to the Community Award; Senior Citizens' Gold Watch Award; Ohio Veterans' Hall of Fame; Honorary doctorates from Wilberforce University and the University of Dayton;
Monuments	Namesake of Fort Gregg-Adams
Spouse(s)	Stanley A. Earley (m.1949)
Other work	Educator

Charity Adams Earley (December 5, 1918 – January 13, 2002) was an American United States Army officer. She was the first African-American woman to be an officer in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (later WACs) and was the commanding officer of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, which was made up of African-American women serving overseas during World War II. Adams was the highest-ranking African-American woman in the army by the completion of the war.

A monument honoring her was dedicated at Fort Leavenworth on November 30, 2018. Fort Gregg-Adams was renamed in honor of Earley and Arthur J. Gregg in 2023, the first-ever U.S. military based bearing the names of African Americans.