From NKAA, Notable Kentucky African Americans Database (African American Women Veterans in and from Kentucky)

Kavanaugh, Minnie Armenta

(born: January 4, 1908 - died: March 4, 1971)

Subject

Women's Army Corps (WACs)

Cosmetologists, Beauty Shops, Hairdressers, Beauty Supplies

Air Force, U.S.

Military Branch

Women's Army Corps

Active Duty Entered

April 1, 1943

Active Duty Exit

1945

Notes

Minnie A. Kavanaugh was living in Lexington, KY, when she enlisted in the Army, according to the record in Ancestry. In October of 1944, she was transferred from the Basic Training Center at Fort Des Moines, IA, to the Laurinburg-Maxton Army Air Base in North Carolina.

Minnie A. Kavanaugh was the daughter of Jerry Taylor Kavanaugh and Minnie K. Kavanaugh. In the 1910 U.S. Census, Minnie, the younger, was listed as Minnie Kavanaugh, Jr. The family lived in Germantown (Clark County), KY. In the 1920 Census, the family lived in Lexington, KY. In the 1930 Census and 1939 city directory, the family was still living in Lexington and Minnie A. Kavanaugh was a beautician. Her mother owned the beauty salon.

In 1943, Minnie A. Kavanaugh enlisted in the Army. She was back in Lexington in 1945 and managed the beauty salon for the next decade. Minnie A. Kavanaugh died in Lexington, KY, and she is buried in Cove Haven Cemetery.

Sources: "Transferred: Pvt. Minnie Armenta Kavanaugh," The Lexington Herald, 10/03/1944, p.12; see Minnie K. and Minnie Kavanaugh in Polk's Lexington City Directory, 1939, p.335; Polk's Lexington City Directory, 1945, p.216; and Minnie A. Kavanaugh in Find A Grave.

* Prior to 1947, there was the Army Air Forces. The U.S. Air Force became a separate military service with the National Security Act of 1947. There were women who continued in the Army while performing Air Force duties. The following year, 1948, women in the Women's Army Corps (WAC) were able to transfer to Women in the Air Force (WAF). See Women in the Air Force, an Air University libguide.