Jeanetta M. Wright, class of 1926, became a high school Natural Science teacher in Washington, DC after graduation. When the US entered World War II, she obtained a leave of absense from the Board of Education and enlisted in the Army in November 1943.

She went through basic training at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, then was assigned to a chemical laboratory at Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland. She worked there throughout the rest of the war, until her discharge in February 1946. Although offered the opportunity to remain at Edgewood Arsenal as a civilain, she decided to return to Washington to resume teaching.