Senegalese, Moroccans, Algerians, Americans – this six page article summarizes the participation of the various Allied units that were composed entirely of Black men throughout the four year course of W.W. I.
‘Black devils‘ the German soldiers called them, when, fighting like demons, they had forced the Kaiser’s shock troops to retreat before them.
The Negro in the War’ (NY Times, 1919) Read More »
An article written by David Le Roy Ferguson (dates unknown), an African-American pastor assigned to minister to the black Doughboys posted to the depot at St. Nazaire, France. The men of his flock were stevedores who were ordered to perform the thankless task of off-loading cargo from the various supply ships arriving daily to support the A.E.F.. Aside from working as cooks or in other service positions, this was a customary assignment given to the African-Americans during the war; only a small percentage were posted to the 92nd and 93rd combat divisions.
Pastor Ferguson’s magazine article salutes the necessary labor of these men while at the same time adhering to the usual simple descriptions of the African-American as cheerful, musical and rather crude.
African-American Stevedores in the U.S. Army (The Independent, 1919) Read More »
This disturbing article from 1921 reported on a series of lynchings that took place between the years 1917 through 1919 by U.S. Army personnel serving in France during the First World War. The journalist quoted witness after witness who appeared before the Senate Committee regarding the lynchings they had seen:
Altogether…I saw ten Negroes and two white men hanged at Is-Sur-Tille. Twenty-eight other members of my command also witnessed these hangings and if necessary, I can produce them.
The Lynching of African-Americans in France (NY Times, 1921) Read More »
An account of the war-time activities of the four infantry regiments that made up the U.S. Ninety-Third Division
Read an article about racial integration in the U.S. Military
The 93rd Division (The Stars and Stripes, 1919) Read More »
Much has been written on the unique relationship that has existed between African-Americans and the city of Paris
November 11, 1918: Paris, France (The American Legion Weekly, 1920) Read More »
This is a lovely piece, originally written in French for a village paper, in which a journalist describes the collective excitement of the townsfolk in welcoming the Americans to their sleepy hamlet during the First World War, and how astonished they were to find that the arriving Doughboys were all of African descent!
Read an Article About American intervention in W.W. I and the Gratitude of France.
A French Village Welcomes the Ninety-Second Division (The Crises, 1919) Read More »
This article is essentially a collection of lyrics from an assortment of songs sung by the Black Doughboys who were charged with the task of loading and unloading trucks far behind the front line trenches during the First World War. It was written in 1927 to serve as a review for Singing Soldiers
All dese colored soldiers comin’ over to France
All dese soldiers an’ me
Goin’ to help de Whites make de Kaiser dance
All dese soldiers an’ me…
‘Soldier Man Blues” (Literary Digest, 1927) Read More »
This historic article first appeared in a 1919 issue of The Crisis and served to document the official discrimination against African-Americans who served both in the ranks and as officers in the American Army during the First World War. The article includes the communications from high-ranking American officers to the French military authorities, conveying their suggestions as to how America’s black Doughboys were to be treated.
W.E.B. Du Boise and the Documents of U.S. Army Prejudice (The Crises, 1919 Read More »
An interesting editorial from World War I in which the writer (possibly W.E.B. Duboise) expressed that an African-American’s sense of patriotism in that era was based on the nation’s potential to be judicious and fair.
The article is a fine example illustrating the influence that George Creel and his Committee on Public Information had strong-arming the American magazine editors during the period of World War One.
‘Patriotism” (The Crisis, 1918) Read More »
The courageous acts of white soldiers were not so easily demeaned in other STARS & STRIPES features as were the heroics performed by Henry Johnson and Needham Roberts in this piece from the Spring of 1918. For those who have, through the years, read the history of the New York 369th Regiment of Infantry this article will leave you a little sadder for the racial stereotyping and cheekiness so clearly enjoyed by the journalist and his editors.
On June 2, 2015 Henry Johnson was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in a White House ceremony.
The Battle of Henry Johnson (The Stars and Stripes, 1918) Read More »
