A Nashvillian Preserving her Mother’s Six Triple Eight Battalion Legacy

Denise McBride always knew her Mom, Mrs. Phyllis Inez Galloway Meekins was a beautiful force in the world. A fearless, esteemed woman with accomplishments of being a celebrated and recognized LPGA professional to guiding her family, daughter and students to achieve the highest form of excellence. She created the PGM Golf Clinics, Inc., making her the first and only in the Delaware Valley to facilitate youth golfing activities year-round. She would later extend the program to a summer camp, welcoming youth, adults, and special needs.

Denise was aware of how invaluable her mother was to their Mt. Airy community before she made her way to attend Fisk University in Nashville, TN. However, she didn’t find out until later in life how wide her mother’s legacy ran. She would discover an article through a friend, sharing how her mother was one of the 855 women in the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. An all-black, female battalion recently documented in the Tyler Perry Netflix Movie – Six Triple Eight. The 6888th story was one of hope, excellence, courage, and just plain ole hustle. They were sent over to take on an insurmountable mission of fixing a three-year backlog of undelivered mail during World War II. Many, if not all hoped and knew they would fail. Yet these women came together (as we always do) in spite of discrimination and racism to sort more than 17 million pieces of mail ahead of schedule. Remember, this was a time when mail and words on paper from your loved ones were a true lifeline for all soldiers.

The pride that was swelling up in all of us. You could see it, you could, you could see it and you can feel it. We listened to the dignitaries talk about the women, and a lot of people say they’ve never heard of them. – Denise McBride

Mrs. Phyliss Inez Galloway Meekins was one of those amazing women. Denise was able to attend to the ceremony awarding the 6888th Battalion the Congressional Medal of Honor in 2022. This ceremony is also where she was able to finally meet many of the descendants she was corresponding with leading up to this history-making moment. As Denise shares, “I remember checking into the hotel and one of the descendents comes up to me and says, you are Denise, I know your voice.” The descendents of these women have truly build a bond and they are each determined to make sure their loved ones legacy continues to live on. 

Meeting with Denise, you could palpably feel her pride in her Mother and honor to share and carry this legacy. From the pristine memorabilia she brought to the shoot (literally, her Mother’s coffee mug looked as if it was just purchased at a housewares store) to an actual letter her Mom wrote while she was serving in the 1940’s. It was these letters and the story Denise shared about the women and how they naturally created a self-sustaining community for themselves to thrive during that time. These women were nurses, hairstylists, teachers to mechanics and they were there for one another when others were counting them out. 

They were never braggadocious about anything. Most of them had many reasons to go into the service, but I will say the first is the love of country. I went to the ceremony in 2022, not really knowing what to expect. I had spoken to some of the other descendants. I’ve never seen them, but we had something in common. We knew that it was either our mothers or grandmothers or our aunts, and we were all searching for knowledge. – Denise McBride

The power of collaboration and working together for something greater than yourself was not lost on these women. Sitting down with Denise also allowed me to realize, in spite of the world we live in today, it is still fully possible to embrace those same values now as a community.

Read more of our Black History. Nashville History series visit – https://urbaanite.com/category/a-little-nashville-black-history/ 

Photos/Video: Elle Danielle

Shoot location: Kenect Nashville