African American Army Officers of World War I: A Vanguard of Equality in War and Beyond
- ISBN-10
- 078649512X
- ISBN-13
- 9780786495122
- Category
- History
- Pages
- 236
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2015-04-15
- Publisher
- McFarland
- Author
- Adam P. Wilson
Description
In April 1917, Congress approved President Woodrow Wilson's request to declare war on the Central Powers, thrusting the United States into World War I with the rallying cry, "The world must be made safe for democracy." Two months later 1,250 African American men--college graduates, businessmen, doctors, lawyers, reverends and non-commissioned officers--volunteered to become the first blacks to receive officer training at Fort Des Moines, Iowa. Denied the full privileges and protections of democracy at home, they prepared to defend it abroad in hopes that their service would be rewarded with equal citizenship at war's end. This book tells the stories of these black American soldiers' lives during training, in combat and after their return home. The author addresses issues of national and international racism and equality and discusses the Army's use of African American troops, the creation of a segregated officer training camp, the war's implications for civil rights in America, and military duty as an obligation of citizenship.
Get the book
Other editions
Similar books
-
African American Doctors of World War I: The Lives of 104 Volunteers
By W. Douglas Fisher, Joann H. BuckleyBeginning with their assignment to the Medical Officers Training Camp (Colored)--the only one in U.S. history--this book covers the early years, education and war experiences of these physicians, as well as their careers in the black ...
-
The Unknown Soldiers
By Bernard C. Nalty, Arthur E. Barbeau, Florette HenriThe Unknown Soldiers is an unforgettable, searing study of those wartime experiences that forced African Americans to realize that equality and justice could never be earned in Jim Crow America, but only wrested from its strangling grip.
-
Proud Warriors: African American Combat Units in World War II
By Alexander M. BielakowskiProud Warriors makes the case that the wartime experiences of combat units such as the Tank Battalions and the Tuskegee Airmen ultimately convinced President Truman to desegregate the military, without which the progress of the Civil Rights ...
-
Complete History of the Colored Soldiers in the World War: Authentic Story of the Greatest War of Civilized Times and...
By AnonymousThis work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations.
-
Torchbearers of Democracy: African American Soldiers in the World War I Era
By Chad L. WilliamsChad L. Williams reveals the central role of African American soldiers in the global conflict and how they, along with race activists and ordinary citizens, committed to fighting for democracy at home and beyond.
-
A Historic Context for the African-American Military Experience - Covering Before the Civil War, Blacks in Union and Confederate Army,...
By U. S. Military, Department of Defense, U. S. GovernmentThis important work by the Army recognizes and highlights the contributions of African Americans to the military history of the United States.
-
Scott's Official History of the American Negro in the World War
By Emmett Jay ScottScott's Official History of the American Negro in the World War
-
We Return Fighting: World War I and the Shaping of Modern Black Identity
By Nat'l Mus Afr Am Hist CultureThis stunning book presents artifacts, medals, and photographs alongside powerful essays that together highlight the efforts of African Americans during World War I. As in many previous wars, black soldiers served the United States during ...
-
African American Troops in World War II
By Alexander BielakowskiThis book summarizes the service of these men and women; and it also focuses on the small proportion who, remarkably, overcame prejudicial barriers to reach the battlefields in combat units of the US forces and Coast Guard.
-
America and the Great War: A Library of Congress Illustrated History
By Margaret E. WagnerA Library of Congress Illustrated History Margaret E. Wagner. 1917, by Montana's senior senator, Henry L. Myers. Myers's Senate Bill 2789 remained in committee for months as the nation's war effort, and attendant patriotic fervor, ...