Harriet Waddy

Lieutenant Colonel Harriet M. Waddy (also known as Harriet West; 1904 – 1999) was an American military officer. She graduated from Kansas State University and worked as an aide for Mary McLeod Bethune. During World War II, she attained the rank of major in the Women's Army Corps. She was one of the highest-ranking African American officers during the war and served as a wartime adviser on racial issues.

Early life and education Harriet M. Hardin was born on June 20, 1904, in Jefferson City, Missouri. Following the death of her mother, she was raised by her maternal grandmother. She earned a degree from the College of Agriculture and Applied Science at Kansas State University. During the Great Depression, she worked as an aide for Mary McLeod Bethune when Bethune was director of the Division of Negro Affairs.

Waddy was dispatched to the South where she listened to grievances from Black women in the Women's Army Corps.

Later and personal life Following her military career Waddy was hired by the Federal Aviation Administration. In Oregon, she worked at a Job Corps center as a counselor for troubled girls.

Waddy lived in Eugene, Oregon, and married four times. During the war, she was married to physician Charles West. In 1998, following the end of her fourth marriage to Major Edward Waddy, she moved to Las Vegas. She died there on February 21, 1999. She enjoyed bowling and Frank Sinatra's "My Way". The United States Army Women's Museum in Fort Lee, Virginia, holds a collection of memorabilia related to Waddy.