Found 14 collections related to United States -- Armed Forces -- African Americans

The 167th Field Artillery Brigade, formed in November 1917 as a component of the 92nd Division, was the first brigade of Black artillery regiments of ever organized. It consisted of two regiments of light artillery (the 349th and the 350th) and one regiment of heavy artillery, the 351st. The 351st Field Artillery was trained at Camp Meade, Maryland, and in June 1918, it sailed with the rest of the 167th Brigade from Hoboken, New Jersey to Brest, France, where the troops received additional artillery training. As part of the U.S. 2nd Army's drive toward Metz, France in November 1918, the 351st attacked six towns within a week. In February and March 1919, the 351st returned to the United States. The 351st Field Artillery Collection contains a few of documents pertaining to field conditions in France. An order issued in French calls for the mandatory evacuation of the town Le Maire de Ville-à-Mousson, July 13, 1918, where the 3rd Battalion saw action. Included are schedules for the firing of weapons during training by the 351st Field Artillery in France, August-September 1918, and sanitary reports of field conditions. Many of the reports in this collection were certified by Captain Henry J. Meyer, U.S. Army surgeon. Additionally, the collection includes rosters of officers and enlisted men in the Sanitary Detachment with names, addresses, and discharge information. There is a passenger list of the army units which embarked from Brest, France in 1919, and a list of enlisted soldiers in the medical detachment who were discharged at Fort Dix, New Jersey, as well as a list of promotions for this detachment. Of particular interest are several statements indicating that no venereal disease or vermin were found among the troops. Other medical records for the troops to be discharged include cards with names and ranks of soldiers, issued by the infirmary at Camp Meade, listing cause of admission and disposition (transfer to hospital or return to duty), February-March 1919; and lists of the sick and wounded with names, rank, company, nature of illness, and place of treatment. There are also reports of sanitary inspections of conditions on board the U.S. Louisville and medical inspections of soldiers en route from Brest to Hoboken, as well as reports about the condition of supplies. A photocopy of a portion of a 1942 reunion program forms part of the collection. less

The Committee Against Jim Crow in Military Service and Training was a racial advocacy group that protested biases against Americans of African descent in the United States armed forces. Lobbying efforts consisted of direct appeals to government representatives, mass rallies, and citizens' hearings with elected officials, civil rights leaders, and retired army personnel. Affiliated organizations included the Committee to End Segregation in the Armed Forces, the League for Non-Violent Civil Disobedience Against Military Segregation, and the Commission of Inquiry into the Effect of Segregation and Discrimination on the Morale and Development of the Negro Soldier. Grant Reynolds, a World War II veteran and former army captain, and A. Philip Randolph, president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters Association, served as co-chairs. This collection consists of correspondence, telegrams, memoranda, transcripts of hearings, and printed matter of the Committee Against Jim Crow in Military Service and Training and affiliated organizations and individuals advocating for equal treatment of African Americans in the United States armed forces. less

High school teacher and civil rights advocate in New York City. Correspondence, political files, and printed material documenting Lane's opposition to racial discrimination and war. Includes letters from World War II soldiers relating to discrimination in the military, and material on the 14th amendment, National Committee on Rural Schools, and the Socialist Party, on whose ticket Lane ran for office. less

Correspondence, reports, rosters listing names of troops, ledgers, performance evaluations, and discharge papers, relating to Rudd's command of I Company, 48th Infantry, an all African-American unit fighting in the Spanish-American War, and the administration of Benguet Province in the Philippines. Includes a map of the province and notes on its agriculture. less

The Corps d'Afrique was officially known as the Louisiana Native Guards. The First Louisiana Native Guards was raised in August 1862 by Union general Benjamin Butler and mustered in on September 27, 1862. It was the first Black regiment in the United States. The Second Louisiana Native Guards was mustered in on October 1862, and the Third in November 1862. This collection includes a muster and payroll for the First Regiment of Engineers under Colonel Justin Hodge. The roll contains the names and ranks of officers, a musician, and individual soldiers in the regiment, and date and place of enrollment. less

The 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion (PIB), formed in 1944, was the first African American parachute unit to actually use parachutes in the military; the first to become smoke jumpers who fought forest fires; and the first African American battalion to integrate the armed forces just months before President Truman officially directed the integration of the United States military.This collection is comprised of newspaper articles, letters, photocopies of pictures, and lists of members. less

During World War II, Charles Edward Harris was in the all-Black 57th Ordnance Ammunition Company, whose duty was the procurement, storage, and distribution of ammunition. The Charles E. Harris World War II memorabilia collection includes two handwritten and typed histories of the 57th Ordnance Ammunition Company, love letters, two handkerchiefs, and a booklet. less

This collection contains an advance draft of the "Utilization of Negro Manpower in the Army: A 1951 Study", and a copy of The Reporter (December 1954) which includes Leo Bogart's article. There are also several reports including "The Army and Its Negro Soldiers"; "The Utilization of Negro Troops in Korea: A Report on a Field Survey", June 1951; and "The Utilization of Negro Troops in Korea: A Supplementary Report", September 1951. Additionally, there are copies of correspondence between Bogart and officials concerning the declassification of the "Utilization of Negro Manpower.". less

Harriet Pickens joined the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) in 1944 as a member of the Women's Reserves in the U.S. Naval Reserve. She was one of two African American women to be sworn in as an officer, and she was commissioned as a lieutenant following her training, the first to receive this high rank. The Harriet Pickens papers primarily contain documentation regarding her military service as a lieutenant in the WAVES (1944-1946) and her public service work. less

The Jones-Sadler family was an African-American family living in Greenville, Mississippi, after the Civil War. The Jones-Sadler Family Papers, 1876-1931 consists of correspondence and other documents relating to Cornelius Jones and to Charles and Sarah Sadler and family. The collection includes: transcript from Kansas City General Hospital with a letter offering employment to Callie Patterson; certificate of service and pension request for Charles Sadler; a midwife permit dated 1923 and five documents relating to Sarah Sadler's receipt of her husband's pension; receipt for room, board and tuition for Estelle Walker at Central Tennessee College; a three page obituary, six letters and one flyer advertising Cornelius Jones's Candidacy for the third Congressional District in Mississippi; and two letters to Sarah Sadler Cornelius and Hannah Jones. less

The Military collection documents primarily the military activities of African Americans in the United States armed forces, dating from the American Revolution to the mid-1980s. The collection, which depicts mostly the wartime activities of the United States military and is strongest for the period from World War II (1940s) to the mid-1950s, includes single and group portraits of enlisted personnel and officers; views of battles and troop movements; views of military encampments near battle sites or in foreign lands; and views of military bases and training camps, depicting daily military life and basic training, mainly from the 1940s to the mid-1950s. The U.S. Army, Navy, and Marine Corps are the most represented branches of the armed services. Images from the 1700s, the 1800s, the Korean War and Vietnamese Conflict, and the late-1950s to the 1890s are limited. Images depicting civilians employed in the war industries during World War II are filed separately. There are some depictions of foreign troops, mainly during World War II. less

The collection primarily documents people, places and events in Harlem from the early 1930s to the mid-1950s. The collection consists of studio and candid portraits of mainly African American personalities, Harlem residents, and fashion models; views of various social and political events in Harlem; and coverage of sports events and other news stories, representing the Smiths' freelance photography work for the New York Amsterdam News, the New York Age, and other African-American newspapers. Images depicting the personal activities of the Smith brothers are limited. less

Collection of material relating to Sergeant-Major Fleetwood during the Civil War and after his return to civilian life; and individual black soldiers before and during the Spanish American War (War of 1898). Collection includes a biography of Fleetwood; a letter from a colleague of Fleetwood's to the retired President of Lincoln University (Pennsylvania) concerning himself and Fleetwood; an 1897 clipping regarding a speech by Fleetwood at a black high school in Washington, D.C.; and handwritten and typed sketches about black soldiers in various infantry and cavalry regiments, noting incidents of bravery (1879-1898). less