At Fort Des Moines, the first WAAC Training Center and Officer Candidate School, the barracks, service clubs, and mess halls were segregated, as was the service band.
[3] After regular and frequent rehearsals, the women assigned to the band provided concerts on base, and performed in the 1944 Memorial Day Parade in Des Moines.
A massive letter-writing campaign began protesting the deactivation of band, both from individuals, such as Mary McLeod Bethune, and organizations such as the National Council of Negro Women, the Racial Justice Committee of the Des Moines Interracial Commission, and Local 208 of the Musicians' Protective Union.
[6] In addition to concerts on base, the band performed throughout the Midwest, appearing at bond drives and recruiting rallies.
[2] They were invited to perform at the Thirty-fourth Annual Conference of the NAACP in Chicago, and were credited with helping to sell over $450,000 of war bonds at the event.