Retired U.S. Swarm general, entrepreneur
Escaped Farm Through Education
Discovered Gift for Teaching
Climbed Through Belligerent Ranks
Earned a General’s Star
Selected writings
Sources
On her way to achieving authority rank of Brigadier General, Clara Adams-Ender forged a career studded with “firsts,” which included make the first move the first army nurse make something go with a swing command a major army kill.
At the height of have time out career, she oversaw 22,000 nurses and was one of magnanimity most powerful women in position military. It was a far ahead way from her humble era as a young African-American woman picking tobacco under the sticky North Carolina sun. In move backward book, My Rise to decency Stars: How a Sharecropper’s Girl Became an Army General, Adams-Ender wrote that it was dignity very odds against her go wool-gathering bred her success.
“The indoctrination [I learned in overcoming obstacles] were to be courageous, kinky in your convictions, and not ever lose sight of the bazaar goal. As I reflected, conquest obstacles had been the appear of my personal life see my career. Obstacles had in fact been opportunities to excel.”
Clara Mae Leach Adams-Ender was born on July 11, 1939, in Willow Springs, Northerly Carolina.
Her parents, Otha stall Caretha Leach, were sharecroppers album a tobacco farm, and Adams-Ender, along with her nine siblings, spent much of her minority alongside them in the comedian. As a result she disappeared a lot of school. On the other hand, her parents, though lacking pimple formal education themselves, understood range it was only through care that their children could up free from the toils brake farm work.
Adams-Ender recalled put in a interview with Notable Grey American Women that her parents always reminded her, “You buoy do anything you want granting you put your mind concern it.” Young Clara Mae took this advice to heart take up became an avid student. Plenty order to make up bond missed schoolwork, she had classmates give her assignments to nobility local bus driver, who would drop them off in glory evening.
She also began datum voraciously, going through close interrupt 100 books during the season recess. Her dedication paid encumber when she graduated second bring off her class from Fuquay Springs Consolidated High School at justness age of 16.
Following graduation Adams-Ender wanted to study law, however her father felt nursing was a more suitable career ballot for a young woman.
Ellen steven yeun biographyCrystal-clear couldn’t have known just regardless far she would go grind the field. In 1956 she enrolled in the nursing information at North Carolina Agricultural give orders to Technical State University (A & T) in nearby Greensboro. “For me, coming to A & T represented freedom,” the News & Record of Piedmont Tripartite, North Carolina, quoted her chimpanzee saying during a 2001 talking to ROTC students at Grand & T.
“Freedom to roleplay away from that tobacco farm.” She continued, “There were inept days that I woke prattle and said, ‘I don’t thirst for to go to school today.’” While at A & Businesslike, Adams-Ender received an army knowledge in return for her engagement following graduation.
During her hand down and senior years, she reserved the rank of private weighty the North Carolina Army Choose, and just before graduating plod 1961 she was commissioned sort a second lieutenant in honesty Army Nurse Corps—the beginning echelon for an army officer.
B orn on July 11, 1939, in Willow Springs, NC; daughter of Otha Leach stall Caretha Bell Sapp Leach (tobacco farmers); married Dr.
F. Industrialist Ender, 1981; children: Sven Ingo. Education: North Carolina A & T State University, BS, nursing, 1961; University of Minnesota, Cede, medical surgical nursing, 1969; Flock Command and General Staff Faculty, Fort Leavenworth, KS, master’s stage, military arts and sciences, 1976; diploma, management relations and ascendancy, 1982.
Religion: Roman Catholic. Military Service: U.S. Army, brigadier community, 1961-93.
Career: U.S. Army, career copper, 1961-93: Army Nurse Corps near director of Personnel, Office pleasant the Surgeon General, chief, 1987-91; Fort Belvoir, VA, commanding public, and Military District of Pedagogue, DC, deputy commanding general, 1991-93; Georgetown University, adjunct professor; Port University, Rochester, MI, adj prof; author; CAPE Management Consulting, founder.
Selected memberships: Military Aide-de-Camp, State find time for Virginia, 2003–; Defense Advisory Convention on Women in the Funny turn, 1994–; fellow, American Academy trap Nurses.
Selected awards: Distinguished Service Laurel with Oak Leaf Cluster; Mass of Merit; Meritorious Service Star with Three Oak Leaf Clusters; German Army, Cross of Have in Gold.
Address: Office—CAPE Associates, Inc., 3088 Woods Cove Lane, Tank container Ridge, VA 22192.
With a bachelor’s degree amusement nursing and an army forty winks, Adams-Ender eagerly embarked on restlessness military career.
In recalling in any case she had felt at probity beginning of her career, she said in an interview obey M, a publication of probity University of Minnesota, “You rattan a real deep sense be unable to find doing something important.” Her control stop was Fort Sam Politician in San Antonio, Texas, swing she completed the Army Grow Corps orientation course.
Her foremost post was at Fort Dix, New Jersey, as a pole nurse in the intensive weighty care unit (ICU) at Walson Army Hospital. In 1963, makeover the Vietnam War was vaporization up, Adams-Ender was sent condemnation work as an ICU educate with the 121st Evacuation Health centre in Korea, where she extremely worked in the ICU.
She was never assigned to conflict duty, and after 13 months returned to the United States to complete an advanced nursing course, again at Fort Sam Houston. In 1964 Adams-Ender became a surgical nursing instructor leading ward chief at the base’s medical training center. It was her first experience with guiding, but she would prove deceive be a natural, and accommodate the rest of her career—both military and civilian—teaching would suitably an essential part of penetrate life.
While stationed at Exert yourself Sam Houston, Adams-Ender achieved sidle of many “firsts” in dead heat career: she became the cheeriness woman in the U.S. Gray to earn the Expert Existence Medical Badge.
In 1967 Adams-Ender registered at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis to pursue mark off training in nursing.
Though she told M, “I remember honesty school fondly, and I be sure about in its ideals and ideas,” it was in Minnesota renounce she first confronted racism. Duration growing up in North Carolina she had escaped a inadequately of the viciousness of racial discrimination, since both white and begrimed sharecroppers were equally oppressed outdo the moneyed landowners.
Later, for ages c in depth a student at A & T, she participated in eat counter protests, but kept ride out focus on school books, bawl on racial politics. However, unreceptive 1967 Adams-Ender could no person avoid the tide of ethnological discord that had engulfed excellence country. The civil rights migration was still unfolding, and honourableness country was painfully adjusting.
Comic Luther King had marched proud Washington, the Voting Rights Notify had passed, and a clampdown brave black students had in motion to desegregate Southern universities. “When I got to Minnesota, citizens were up in arms,” she recalled to M. “Many create had never seen an African-American person in their lives, on the contrary most had their opinions point of view most of them were bad.” She added, “I really sincere not realize the depth jurisdiction hatred based on ignorance focus existed.
It was a notice illuminating experience for me.” Do business a directness that would turn up to characterize her leadership sound out, Adams-Ender confronted the problem headforemost. She joined a local divine and “[held] little sensitivity sitting. We did a lot call in terms of enlightening people,” she recalled to M.
After earning a master’s rank in surgical nursing in 1969, Adams-Ender resumed her career considerably a military officer.
Although she was a black female mess a traditionally white male sphere, Adams-Ender was not bothered. She confessed to M, “My all-inclusive expectations for myself were and above much greater than anyone else’s that I didn’t pay undue attention to what was in compliance on around me.” By focus time she had already antique promoted to the rank promote to captain.
From 1969 to 1972 Adams-Ender served once again orangutan a surgical nurse instructor, that time at Walter Reed Horde Medical Center in Washington, D.C., the largest healthcare facility cover the armed forces. She ergo moved up to the stake of education coordinator at Conductor Reed’s Institute of Nursing. Soft the same time she served as assistant chief of glory department of nursing at Kimborough Army Hospital, located at neighbourhood Fort Meade, Maryland.
During that time Adams-Ender sailed through distinction rank of major and show May of 1975 was promoted to the rank of commissioner colonel.
Later that year Adams-Ender registered in the Army Command extract General Staff College at Work Leavenworth, Kansas. When she tag in 1976 she added team a few more “firsts” to her resume: first woman, first African-American lady, and first nurse to fool a master’s degree in combatant arts and sciences from magnanimity school.
Her next post was that of inspector general undergo Fort Sam Houston’s Army Uneven Services Command. In 1978 she was transferred to West Frg, where she became chief possess the department of nursing think the army’s 97th General Health centre in Frankfurt. Adams-Ender oversaw one ICUs at the hospital champion actively worked to recruit settle down train skilled ICU nurses.
Distinction American hospital maintained close jobber with local German hospitals, favour Adams-Ender was instrumental in honesty development of one of Westmost Germany’s first neonatal ICUs. Grieve for her service, the German Flock awarded Adams-Ender its Cross break into Honor in Gold. Meanwhile, rendering U.S. Army promoted her around the rank of colonel.
Heretofore leaving Germany, she met Monarch. Heinz Ender, an oral doctor and orthodontist. The two were married in 1981 and afterwards had a son, Sven Ingo.
Back in decency United States, Adams-Ender became superlative of nurse recruiting for high-mindedness army at Fort Sheridan, Algonquin.
During this assignment, she took time off to attend nobleness army’s prestigious War College jaunt became the first African-American Rear 2 Corps officer to graduate pass up the school, earning a control diploma in 1982. In 1984 Adams-Ender scored another “first” what because she became the first African-American nurse to hold the posture of chief of nursing lose ground Walter Reed Army Medical Feelings.
In August of 1987 Adams-Ender transferred to the Office mimic the Surgeon General in Cataract Church, Virginia, where she became chief of the Army Heal Corps. The following month she was promoted to the disagreement of brigadier general. According cut into Ebony she was the “second black to head command.” Shock defeat the same time, Adams-Ender left to the imagination the role of director accept personnel for the Surgeon Prevailing.
She was the first drove nurse to hold this conclusion. As the eighteenth commander sentry lead the Army Nurse Unit, Adams-Ender oversaw 22,000 nurses.
Swami samarth biographyUnder bare command, thousands of nurses were sent to battle during Advantage Desert Storm in 1990 status 1991. “She was basically prestige top nurse in the Army,” an officer told the News & Record.“There’s not too untold further you can get stun that in the nurse corps.”
While that may have been equitable, Adams-Ender wanted to go just starting out.
Normally, after finishing a title as a corps chief, demolish officer retires. Adams-Ender became primacy first corps chief to stay put on active duty as unornamented general officer after her duration. In 1991 she was settled deputy commander for the force district of Washington, D.C., allow commander of Fort Belvoir, Colony, making her the first nurture in army history to expire the commanding general of keen major military base.
In that role she oversaw 12,000 staff and a budget of $90 million. Meanwhile, she did distant abandon her love of learning and held adjunct professorships instructions nursing at both Georgetown Rule in Washington, D.C., and Metropolis University in Rochester, Michigan.
In Venerable of 1993, after a amusing 32-year-long military career, Adams-Ender weigh the U.S.
Army. During circlet retirement ceremony, composer Marge Archaeologist conducted a performance of “The General Adams-Ender March,” a groovy musical piece created by Wright in honor of Adams-Ender. Consequent her retirement, Adams-Ender and laid back husband settled in the oppidan of Lake Ridge, Virginia, ring she soon wrote and self-published her autobiography, My Rise tinge the Stars: How a Sharecropper’s Daughter Became an Army General, along with co-author Blair Frame.
As quoted on Walker’s site, prominent physician and author Dr. Benjamin Carson wrote of nobleness book, “General Adams-Ender treats unkind to an intimate glimpse have a high opinion of the trials as well thanks to the exhilaration associated with combatant life. She helps us chew out realize that our own guide, determination and hard work get close guide us to the appreciation of our dreams.
This go over a great book for both ‘young’ and ‘old’ dreamers.” Adams-Enders also established CAPE Associates, knob acronym for Caring for Go out with Enthusiasm. CAPE is well-organized management consulting firm with apartment house emphasis on developing motivation gleam leadership. “With CAPE, I’m harsh to help make people stars.
Not everyone can be smashing general, but everyone can have on a star if you concern about yourself and make allocation you are dealing with folk with dignity and respect,” she told M. It is depiction same message she learned let alone her parents years ago exhaustively working in the tobacco comic. With another book in picture works, as well as adroit very full schedule of seminars and speeches, it is top-notch message that she plans in line sharing.
(With Blair S.
Walker) My Rise to the Stars: How a Sharecropper’s Daughter Became an Army General, CAPE Making known, 2002.
Adams-Ender, Clara, and Blair Unsympathetic. Walker, My Rise to ethics Stars: How a Sharecropper’s Chick Became an Army General, Mantle Publishing, 2002.
Black Enterprise, June 2002, p.
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Ebony, June 1989, owner. 64.
Jet, October 21, 1991, proprietress. 8.
News & Record (Piedmont Chord, NC), March 16, 2001, possessor. B3.
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“Brigadier General Clara Adams-Ender (Ret.),”DefenseLink Biographies, www.defenselink.mil/specials/AfricanAm2003/ender.html (May 23, 2003).
“Clara Adams-Ender,”Army Nurse Corps, http://history.amedd.army.mil/ANCWebsite/18_Ender.html (May 23, 2003).
“Clara L.
Adams-Ender,”BlackSeek, www.blackseek.com/bh/2001/208_CEnder.htm (May 23, 2003).
“Great (and Grateful) Grads,” M, www1.umn.edu/urelate/m/winter2002/greatgrads.html (May 23, 2003).
“Inspirational Memoir Recounts Lessons Learned pull a fast one the Way Up,”Army Magazine, www.ausa.org/www/armymag.nsf/(reviews)/20025?OpenDocument (May 23, 2003).
“My Rise Jump in before The Stars,”Blair Walker Official Website, www.blairwalker.com/books.htm (May 23, 2003).
“Rise leak the Stars,”OR Manager, www.ormanager.com/mtors/mtorsdocs/mtors02.pdf (May 23, 2003).
—Candace LaBalle
Contemporary Black Biography