African-Americans

American Blacks Under French Command
(NY Times, 1919)

This article in a 1919 issue of THE NEW YORK TIMES that told the history of Negro infantry units during the First World War. It concerns the combat record of the American 92nd and 93rd Divisions – units that were dubbed ‘Schwartz Teufel’ (black devils) by the luckless Germans who stood in the opposite trenches.

The negro soldiers of the United States arrived late on the field of battle, but in more than sufficient time to make Germany feel the strength of their arm. In all 83,000 Negroes were drafted for service in the National Army sent overseas. More than 626 of the 1,250 colored men who completed their course of training were commissioned as officers in the United States Army; nearly 100 negro physicians and surgeons received commissions as officers in the Medical Reserve Corps and a full 30,000 men constituted the 92nd Division detailed for duty in France under General Pershing. The total number of Negro combat troops was 42,000.


Click here to read an article about the African soldiers of the French Colonial Army.

The War Record of the 93rd Division
(The Stars and Stripes, 1919)

A post-Armistice Day feature article that reported on the war-time activities of the four infantry regiments that made up the U.S. Ninety-Third Division (the 369th, 370th, 371st and the 372nd).


Two of these regiments were awarded the coveted Croix de Guerre. Accompanying this history is a black and white illustration of the Division’s insignia.

The War Record of the 93rd Division
(The Stars and Stripes, 1919)

A post-Armistice Day feature article that reported on the war-time activities of the four infantry regiments that made up the U.S. Ninety-Third Division (the 369th, 370th, 371st and the 372nd).


Two of these regiments were awarded the coveted Croix de Guerre. Accompanying this history is a black and white illustration of the Division’s insignia.

An Abbreviated War Record of the 92nd Division
(The Stars and Stripes, 1919)

An illustration of the insignia patch and a brief account of the origins, deployments and war-time activities of the U.S. Army’s Ninety-Second Infantry Division during World War One. It is highly likely that the attached description of the 92nd’s service record had been rewritten to suit the personal taste’s of the paper’s Jim Crow editors. Sadly, there are other examples of such biased editing at THE STARS and STRIPES.

American Negros in the Great War
(Leslie’s Weekly, 1920)

This is a World War I article listing many of the patriotic commitments that the African-American community devoted to the 1917 – 1918 war efforts:

The war has transformed the American Negro into the Negro American. Because he has been doing big things for his country his sense of national unity grown; his citizenship became a living reality.

They have contributed 300,000 of their young men to the American Army. Of these 1,000 are commissioned officers of the line…One entire regiment was decorated for bravery and several individual soldiers have been cited for deeds of great valor.

Assorted Home-Front News
(The Crises, 1919)

Attached is a collection of news items that were of interest to the African-American community during World War One. This one-page article illustrates how united and strong the African-American war effort was during the Great War.

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