D. Winifred Byrd and Julia Mosley stand proudly in front of a SPARs poster. African-American women were admitted into the SPARs in 1945. U.S. Coast Guard photo.

African-American History Month: SPAR

Coast Guard Cutter SPAR is a sea-going buoy tender homeported in Kodiak, Alaska. Its name is in honor of the first women to join the Coast Guard Women’s Reserve created November 23, 1942, also known as the SPARs. It wasn’t until February of 1945 that the first African-American women were admitted into the Coast Guard and able to serve as SPARs.