26 Facts About Oleta Crain

Oleta Lawanda Crain was an African-American military officer, federal civil servant, and advocate for black women's rights and desegregation.

Oleta Crain served in the United States Air Force for 20 years, retiring with the rank of major.

Oleta Crain traveled and spoke extensively to women about employment rights, wages, and career opportunities.

Oleta Crain received numerous awards and honors, and was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1988.

Oleta Lawanda Crain was born to V Paula Crain in Earlsboro, Oklahoma, and grew up in Wewoka.

Oleta Crain graduated from Douglass High School and studied at Langston University for three years, but received her bachelor's degree in social science from Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri.

Oleta Crain later earned an undergraduate degree in business administration from the University of Maryland's extension university in Heidelberg, Germany.

Oleta Crain took courses at the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Cambridge University in England, and the University of Vienna School of International Relations in Austria.

Oleta Crain decided to move to Colorado to find better-paying work and in 1942 obtained a job at the Denver Ordnance Plant cleaning toilets.

Oleta Crain was inspired to enlist after seeing a Women's Army Auxiliary Corps poster calling for women to join military bands to aid the war effort.

Oleta Crain completed basic training and then applied to officer training.

Oleta Crain was one of three black women out of 300 women nationwide to enter officer training in 1943.

Oleta Crain was promoted to corporal in December 1942 and to company leader of an African-American unit in February 1943.

Oleta Crain was constantly exposed to racial discrimination in the army.

When Oleta Crain would take her African-American company to the swimming pool for their weekly exercises, they were usually informed that "the schedule had been changed".

Oleta Crain was promoted to Captain in May 1948 and was transferred to Westover Air Force Base in Massachusetts to work in intelligence.

When she was accused of being a communist by her superior officer, Oleta Crain underwent months of investigations and emerged with a top-secret security clearance.

Oleta Crain later served as personnel director at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska, test control officer at an American base in Ruislip, England, and manpower officer at Lindsey Air Station in Germany.

Oleta Crain retired from active duty in June 1963 with the rank of major.

In 1964, Oleta Crain was hired by the United States Department of Labor in Washington, DC as a manpower development specialist.

Oleta Crain moved to the Boston office to serve as associate regional administrator for the agency's Office of Job Service for the New England states; at the same time, she earned her master's degree at Northeastern University and taught night school there for five years.

Oleta Crain supervised conferences on "child care, health benefits, job training, working conditions, and earnings ratios".

Oleta Crain received an Air Force Longevity Service Award with four bronze oak leaf clusters, a Distinguished Career Service award from the United States Department of Labor, and a Martin Luther King Jr.

Oleta Crain was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1988.

Oleta Crain died in Denver on November 7,2007, at the age of 94.

Oleta Crain donated her collection of documents and memorabilia from her service in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps and the United States Air Force during the 1940s to the Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library in Denver.