Found 15 collections related to African American soldiers

The National Research Council Committee on the Status of Black Americans working papers consist of thirty-three essays prepared by prominent scholars in several fields as background for the publication, A Common Destiny: Blacks and American Society (National Academy Press, 1989). less

The Reveille Club was founded in 1932 by African American war veterans in order to celebrate and recognize each other's accomplishments. The main criteria of membership was friendship. According to the group's certificate of incorporation of 1953, the purposes of the Club were to "bring together persons of good moral character with similar intellectual and social aspirations"; "countenance and promote among its members, from all walks of life, faith in one another...fulfill the desire to meet as a group..."; and "maintain a club house". The directors of the Club in 1953 were Ira L. Aldridge, Chauncey M. Hooper, and Wilmer F. Lucas. An annual gala honored various individuals including Adam Clayton Powell, Joe Lewis, Kenneth Clark, Ralph Bunche, William Hastie, Thurgood Marshall, A. Phillip Randolph, Marion Anderson, Whitney Young, Clifford Alexander Jr., Ralph Ellison, Muriel Petioni, C. Virginia Fields, and many others. This collections consists of administrative and historical material, including a constitution, bylaws, membership handbooks, and historical scrapbook highlighting various members. In addition, there is a large amount of printed matter, mainly magazine articles, various programs, and business directories, which focuses on Black individuals, organizations, and events. less

Lawrence D. Reddick served as curator of the Schomburg Collection of Negro Literature, 1939-1948. An African-American historian, Reddick was interested in the role of the black soldier in U.S. wars and published on this topic. Concerned that the role of black soldiers during World War II would not be portrayed accurately by the government, the mainstream or black press, Reddick initiated a campaign to document the experiences of blacks in the military using their first hand accounts. He placed an ad in newspapers served by the Associated Negro Press, requesting that letters written by black soldiers to their families be sent to the Schomburg Collection. In addition, he conducted interviews with black servicemen and women from 1944 to 1946, and collected memorabilia and other World War II related items. The Lawrence D. Reddick World War II Project Collection, 1943-1953 (bulk 1943-1945) consists of correspondence with black servicemen and women, summaries of interviews Reddick conducted, as well as research files maintained by him. The series Letters and Interviews, 1943-1945 consists of more than a hundred letters that black servicemen and officers, and a few black servicewomen, wrote principally to their families and friends relating the individuals' experiences. The servicemen were stationed in all of the theaters of operation, and some were stateside at various training camps throughout the United States. Of note is a letter Dwight Eisenhower wrote in 1947 in response to a letter from Reddick, stating his opposition to discrimination of American soldiers based upon color or race. Also included in the collection are summaries of interviews Reddick conducted between 1944 and 1946 in Harlem with former servicemen and officers. The interviewees were forthright in their discussions about their experiences with both black and white soldiers and officers, and the people in the countries where they served. There are also summaries of interviews with several black servicewomen and one white serviceman, as well as civilians. Individuals interviewed include William E. Artis (artist), Warren Cuney (writer), Benjamin O. Davis (Air Force General), Ewart Guinier (who later headed the first African-American Studies Department at Harvard University), William H. Hastie (civil rights attorney), Roi Ottley (author and journalist) Leigh Whipper (actor). less

An African American career soldier, Jesse J. Johnson authored eight books and several plays about the military service of black men and women. The Jesse J. Johnson military collection consists primarily of secondary sources and printed material, along with typescripts of his plays and one of his books. less

Dr. Alvin P. Hall was the first African American physician licensed to practice psychiatry in Ohio and served in the military for many years. Born in Ohio, he earned his Bachelor's degree from Ohio University at Athens and was awarded his medical degree from Meharry Medical College in 1935. Hall served as a physician in the Civilian Conservation Corps in the Ohio Army Reserves; during World War II, he was on active duty in Africa and Italy with the 366th Infantry Regiment, reaching the rank of Captain, Battalion Surgeon. He attended Case Western Reserve University where he completed his psychiatric training in 1951. Hall practiced neuro- and clinical psychiatry in Ohio until his death in 1973. The Alvin P. Hall papers consist of documents relating to Hall's military career and contain Army course completion certificates, reassignment orders with related correspondence, Army Reserve papers, and handbills regarding the Allied victory in Italy. There are also news clippings and typed and printed copies of his editorial "What It Means to Be an American" (1940), in addition to an article about venereal disease control during World War II, author unidentified. 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

Levi Coppin Hubert (1904-1970) was an African American journalist who worked for both Black and white newspapers in New York City, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, among other cities, in the 1930s. During that time, he also worked for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) writing news stories about Blacks in Harlem for the Federal Writers' Reporting Project. Most notably, with nine other contributors, he wrote a guidebook, The History of the Negro in New York, detailing the history of Blacks in New York City from 1623 until 1936. Additionally, he headed the Publicity Unit of the Federal Music Project. Hubert's primary research interest was the history of Black soldiers in the United States Armed Forces. He wrote manuscripts for two books, "In the Name of Congress: Inspiring Stories of 47 Negroes Awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor", which he completed in 1967, and "Their Muskets Flashed the Dawning: Regimental Histories of the United States Colored Troops During the Civil War: 1962-1865"; there does not appear to be evidence that either of the manuscripts were published. Hubert also helped prepare a four-part silent filmstrip called the "History of the American Negro (1619-1865)" for use in schools. Hubert died in 1970. The Levi C. Hubert papers pertain to Hubert's research on Black soldiers in the United States Armed Forces and other topics in African American history, and include manuscript drafts, correspondence, reproductions of photographs, news clippings, notes, and printed material. Most of the material is devoted to his manuscripts, "In the Name of Congress: Inspiring Stories of 47 Negroes Awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor" (1966-1967), which discusses awardees from the Civil War era to the War in Vietnam, and "Their Muskets Flashed the Dawning: Regimental Histories of the United States Colored Troops During the Civil War," which is mostly a compilation of official Civil War records of the Union and Confederate Armies. There are drafts for both manuscripts as well as research material. Drafts for short articles that Hubert wrote can be found in this collection, while printed copies of his articles for the Federal Writers' Reporting Project are contained in a scrapbook. Also included are notes, correspondence, and printed material regarding the filmstrip entitled "History of the American Negro (1619-1865)." There is also some genealogical material concerning Hubert's family. 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

Wallace Terry, Jr. (1938-2003) was an African-American journalist, author, documentarian, oral historian, and educator best known for his reporting on the experiences of black soldiers in the Vietnam War. The Wallace Terry papers consists of files chronicling his career as a journalist and published author; his work as a visiting professor of journalism; his education; and his posthumous acclaim. less

James Reese Europe was an accomplished musician, composer, conductor, organizer, and recording artist. The collection primarily consists of photocopied secondary sources, newspaper clippings, and programs collected by James R. Europe, Jr. to document his father's accomplishments. 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

Born in Santurce, Puerto Rico in 1909, and raised and educated in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, Conrad Clark matriculated at Howard and Columbia Universities from 1937-1939 and 1953-1954 respectively. He began his journalistic career in 1935, when he worked as a newspaper correspondent in Cuba. From 1936 to 1945, he was employed by the U.S. Government in the Department of the Interior, the U.S. Tariff Commission, and the War Department. In 1942, he enlisted in the Army. After his discharge, Clark went to work for the Afro-American Newspaper Co. in Washington D.C. (1946) and in 1948, he returned to work for the government in the Department of the Army. One year later, he was hired by the Philadelphia Tribune as a journalist. In 1954, Clark was employed by the Associate Negro Press and wrote for the Amsterdam News. He also reenlisted in 1954, and was stationed at various army bases in the U.S. and Europe. In the early 1960s, Clark was employed by the U.S. Information Agency as an Information Specialist and assigned to Korea. On his return to the United States, he was stationed at Fort Monmouth, N.J. in 1962, where he wrote for the Monmouth Message. He worked for other newspapers during the 1960s, including the Amsterdam News, the Philadelphia Tribune, and the Afro American. Clark also was affiliated with religious, fraternal, and professional organizations, such as the Elks and the Washington Press Club. The Conrad Clark papers consist of personal and professional correspondence and printed matter; the materials are related to Clark's employment by the United States Information Agency as an information specialist, and his employment as a journalist with the Amsterdam News and the Philadelphia Tribune. Clark's correspondents include Langston Hughes and Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. less

The Jean Blackwell Hutson photographs, dated 1890s to 1990s, were compiled by Jean Blackwell Hutson (1914-1998), a librarian who served as curator of the Schomburg Collection from 1948 to 1972, then chief of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture from 1972 to 1980. The photographs document her family life, travels, and professional career. The collection holds mostly photographs and to a lesser extent some negatives, telegrams and notes. less