Kaia Alderson loves history, so much so that she decided to tell the unknown story of the first all-woman, all-Black Army Unit, the 6888th Battalion. Alderson wrote a fictionalized account of the 6888 Army Postal Battalion. It is featuring Grace Steele and Eliza Jones, who personify the challenges and triumphs of the first all-woman, all-Black US Army unit based in Europe during WWII.
Rolling out had an opportunity to speak with Alderson about her new book, Sisters in Arms.
What inspired you to write Sisters in Arms?
It all started with a picture that floated down my Twitter feed a few years ago. It just made me pause. It was 6888 and they were marching through the plaza where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in ruin France in 1945. I’ve always been a WWII geek and I knew about the Women’s Army Corps and I knew women had served but I’d never seen a picture until I saw that. So, I immediately looked [it] up to see who are these Black women in Europe, and it looks like WWII. Then I immediately said, “I have to write a story about them.”
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