Research Catalog

Title

African American Army officers of World War I : a vanguard of equality in war and beyond / Adam P. Wilson.

Author

Wilson, Adam P., 1983-

Publication

Jefferson, North Carolina : McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, [2015]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

vii, 226 pages; 23 cm

Summary

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.

Alternative Title

African American Army officers of World War one

Subject

• United States. Army > History > 20th century
• United States. Army
• World War (1914-1918)
• 1900 - 1999
• World War, 1914-1918 > Participation, African American
• African American soldiers > History > 20th century
• African Americans > History > 20th century
• Discrimination in the military > United States > History > 20th century
• Civil rights movements > United States > History > 20th century
• Racism > United States > History > 20th century
• African American soldiers
• African Americans > Civil rights
• Armed Forces > Officers
• Civil rights movements
• Discrimination in the military
• Military participation > African American
• Race relations
• Racism
• United States > History > 20th century
• United States

Genre/Form

• History
• History.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Debating the use of African Americans as soldiers -- The fight for a segregated officer training camp -- Life at Fort Des Moines -- Across the Atlantic; fighting two wars -- Legal battles against segregation -- The Black press: is the pen mightier than the sword -- Mentoring the next generation -- The military desegregated -- Conclusion.

ISBN

• 9780786495122
• 078649512X
• 9781476620077 (canceled/invalid)

LCCN

^^2015008558

OCLC

895338231

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library