Celebrating Women: FamilySearch’s Inspiring Project to Preserve Untold Stories

This narrative is presented here with the courtesy of TheChurchNews.com. It is not meant for utilization by other media.

By Trent Toone, Church News

A recent film titled “Six Triple Eight,” authored and directed by actor/filmmaker Tyler Perry, narrates the authentic story of an all-female World War II unit — the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion.

The 6888th encompassed 855 women, mainly African American, who played an essential role in rectifying a significant postal emergency for the U.S. military, guaranteeing the dispatch of millions of mail items to soldiers and their families in Europe who required a morale boost during the conflict.

In spite of doubt and opposition from the predominantly male Army leadership, the women, driven by the mantra “No mail, low morale,” eliminated a backlog of 7 million pieces of mail in Germany within three months — half the initial time allocated — before tackling millions more in France.

In March 2022, the 855 women assigned to the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion received the Congressional Gold Medal.

Their accomplishments and several personal accounts are showcased in the film, which premiered in theaters on December 6 and became available on Netflix on December 20.

A group of volunteers has utilized FamilySearch.org and other historical references to document the lives and conserve the narratives of each member of the 6888th on a dedicated website — “Honoring the 6888″ (sites.google.com/view/honoringthe6888).

How It Began

Two years prior, Mike and Debbie Ostler, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints located in Tempe, Arizona, became part of the Black Family Genealogy and History Society. Upon reading an article about the women of the 6888th, Debbie Ostler conceived an idea.

“We believed that these women were remarkable and deserving of recognition, and we aspired to preserve their narratives,” she expressed.

The Ostlers discovered a virtual cemetery at FindaGrave.com dedicated to the 6888th and reached out to the individual who established it. They invited friends and additional volunteers to join via word of mouth, including the YMCA, the Family History Society of Arizona, the Black Family Genealogy and History Society of Arizona, the Buffalo Soldiers group near Fort Huachuca, Arizona, and the Arizona chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution to initiate the project.

From the outset, they concluded that the optimal platform for the project would be FamilySearch.org.

“We intended for it to be free and available to all,” remarked Debbie Ostler. “We aspired to save newspaper articles, photographs, and historical documents. Most importantly, we genuinely hope the descendants and families of these women will be able to view and contribute to their profiles … sharing accounts and images that would truly enrich and provide depth to their stories.”

Collaboratively, the group of volunteers finalized most of the soldiers’ profiles within a span of six months, from January to July 2024.

Two members of the Six Triple Eight remain alive — retired Maj. Fannie McClendon, who is 104 years old, and Anna Mae Robertson.

Utilizing the profiles and volunteer research, FamilySearch developed a Six Triple Eight Memorial page (no login necessary) to pay tribute to the 6888th. Those holding a FamilySearch account can log in to discover any potential relationships to one or more of the women.

This is a venture FamilySearch was eager to support, as expressed by Thom Reed, a program manager at FamilySearch.

“Being the largest family history organization globally, we aim to ensure that we are equipping the community and individuals engaged in this work with access to the tools and resources we possess that will assist them in achieving their objectives,” he remarked. “The fact that multiple groups are involved in significant endeavors is motivating for us because it signifies that our resources are being utilized even more extensively to facilitate further family discoveries.”

‘Divinely Inspired Domino Effect’

On Monday, December 16, Reed conducted a live-stream event featuring three descendants of 6888th Battalion members — Carmen A. Jordan-Cox, Karen T. Jordan, and Courtnee N. Jordan-Cox — alongside Milauna Jackson, one of the actresses from the film, “Six Triple Eight.”

Carmen Jordan-Cox is the offspring of Annie Beatrice Knight, who served in the 6888th. Accompanying her were her sister, Karen Jordan, and her child, Courtnee Jordan-Cox.

In an interview with Church News before the live broadcast, Carmen Jordan-Cox expressed that FamilySearch has been an excellent tool for discovering more about her ancestral roots.

“FamilySearch has been incredibly helpful in [assisting us] to sift through and locate all these relatives we weren’t even aware existed,” she remarked.

During the live session, she shared the revelation that Annie Knight enlisted in the military not as a postal employee but as a cryptographic code compiler — a code breaker — a role that was scarce amongst Black women during that era. Carmen Jordan-Cox only became aware of this aspect of her mother’s life in 2022, which was over 12 years following Annie’s passing in 2010.

Courtnee Jordan-Cox, who commended Knight for motivating the women in their family to pursue education, encapsulated the event with this insightful reflection.

“As I take a moment to reflect on everything regarding my grandmother’s military service, our family, along with the families of other women, all the narratives now being revealed about the women of the ‘Six Triple Eight’ … I just wish to convey that I believe this is genuinely a divinely inspired domino effect,” she stated. “As we share that narrative, we amplify those voices and the significance of what has transpired.”

Copyright 2024 Deseret News Publishing Company.