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Political cartoon depicting contrabands carrying cannons, oblivious to their exploitation by the U.S. Army.

Racism and the Limits of Imagination in the United States and the Confederacy

Why did it take so long for the U.S. Army to authorize the enlistment of Black men as soldiers?
by Kevin M. Levin via Civil War Memory on December 1, 2024
The 54th Massachusetts regiment storming Fort Wagner.

Did Robert Gould Shaw Have to Volunteer the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts to Prove Their Bravery?

Questions linger about the assault on Fort Wagner, which took place on this day in 1863.
by Kevin M. Levin via Civil War Memory on July 18, 2024
A photograph of Waverly Woodson Jr. in his U.S. Army uniform.

The Forgotten Hero of D-Day

Waverly Woodson treated men for 30 hours on Omaha Beach, but his heroism became a casualty of entrenched racism, bureaucracy and Pentagon record-keeping.
by Garrett M. Graff via Politico Magazine on June 3, 2024
Black man making V symbol near posters for war bonds.
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Beyond the Battlefield: Double V and Black Americans’ Fight for Equality

A civil rights initiative during World War II known as the Double V campaign advocated for dual victories: over fascism abroad, and racial injustice in the U.S.
via Retro Report on March 7, 2024
Jared Miller poses as his ancestor Richard Oliver, a soldier in the 20th Colored Infantry.

Descendants of Black Civil War Heroes Wear Their Heritage With Pride

A bold new photographic project asks modern-day Americans to recreate portraits of their 19th-century ancestors in painstakingly accurate fashion.
by Jennie Rothenburg Gritz via Smithsonian on December 13, 2023
An American World War II veteran salutes on a beach during the 1994 anniversary commemorations for the invasion of Normandy.

Let’s Give Black World War II Vets What We Promised

The G.I. Bill created a prosperous middle class that was altogether too white.
by Timothy Noah via The New Republic on November 10, 2023
Tuskegee Airmen, Ramitelli, Italy, March 1945; photograph by Toni Frissell. From left to right: Richard S. ‘Rip’ Harder, unidentified airman, Thurston L. Gaines Jr., Newman C. Golden, and Wendell M. Lucas.

‘We Return Fighting’

The ambivalence many Black soldiers felt toward the U.S. in WWII was matched only by the ambivalence the U.S. showed toward principles on which WWII was fought.
by Gary Younge via New York Review of Books on September 28, 2023
USCT flag depicting a Black soldier next to a white woman symbolizing the United States.

USCT Kin’s Generational Battle for Equality

Paid less than their white counterparts, Black men in the United States Colored Troops fought for the Union and the future of their families.
by Holly A. Pinheiro Jr. via Muster on September 19, 2023
Napalm bomb explosion in Vietnam.

Racial Trouble in the Vietnam Era

A new book explores the Army’s struggles with race relations in the decades of civil rights and Black Power.
by Helen Andrews via The American Conservative on August 25, 2023
Black college students at Morgan State University, 1955.

No, the GI Bill Did Not Make Racial Inequality Worse

Popular narratives say that black veterans got no real benefits from the GI Bill. In truth, the GI Bill provided a rare positive experience with government.
by Paul Prescod via Jacobin on April 1, 2023
A Black soldier of the 12th Armored Division stands guard over a group of Nazi prisoners captured in the surrounding German forest, April 1945.

Prisoners Like Us: German POW and Black American Solidarity

During World War II, almost a half million POWs were interned in the United States, where they forged sympathetic relationships with Black American soldiers.
by Matthew Wills, Matthias Reiss via JSTOR Daily on February 25, 2023
Black soldiers in battle.

Double V: Military Racism

Today, the military is perhaps the largest integrated institution in the US. But how it came to be this way reveals a history of racism and resistance.
by Eric Foner via London Review of Books on February 22, 2023
Two unnamed Black officers in the Union Army.

Richard Wright’s Civil War Cipher

Archival records of Black southerners' military desertion tribunals can be read as a distinct form of political action.
by Jonathan Lande via Process: A Blog for American History on February 14, 2023
World War I era African American soldier.

Black Virginians and the American Revolution

Enslaved conspirators in far-flung Accomack County forced some whites to rethink any legislative efforts aiding Black Virginians.
by Adam McNeil via Black Perspectives on February 13, 2023
A Union soldier stands with African Americans on a plantation, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, 1862.

Military Service and Black Families During the Civil War

One war, in one city, Philadelphia, and the fate of the men, women, and children left behind as collateral damage in the wake of conflict.
by Barbara A. Gannon via Black Perspectives on January 11, 2023
U.S. sailors stand among wrecked airplanes during the Pearl Harbor Attack
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Pearl Harbor was the Site of Black Heroism and Protests Against Racism

The history of segregation in the Navy — and its abolition — show how to combat institutionalized bigotry.
by Matt Delmont via Made By History on December 7, 2022
Group of seated Black soldiers listening to staff sergeant explain G.I. Bill of Rights

How a Hostile America Undermined Its Black World War II Veterans

Service members were attacked, discredited, and shortchanged on GI benefits—with lasting implications.
by Matt Delmont via Mother Jones on October 6, 2022
Painting of a stylized explosion and the silhouettes of African American soldiers.

A Deadly World War II Explosion Sparked Black Soldiers to Fight for Equal Treatment

After the deadliest home-front disaster of the war, African Americans throughout the military took action to transform the nation's armed forces.
by Matt Delmont via Smithsonian on August 24, 2022

Black Marines Were 'Dogged' On This Base In The 1940s. Now They're Honored There

In the 1940s about 20,000 men trained on racially segregated Montford Point in North Carolina.
by Jay Price via NPR on July 4, 2022
Troops from the 92nd Infantry Division move past a destroyed Mark VI tank on the outskirts of Ponsacco, Italy, on Sept. 1, 1944.

A Young WWII Soldier’s Remains Could Be Those of Spike Lee’s Lost Cousin

Military experts seeking to identify partial skeleton in an anonymous grave.
by Michael E. Ruane via Retropolis on June 28, 2022
Illustration of the funeral procession of the late Captain Cailloux, 1863.

The Case for Posthumously Awarding André Cailloux the Congressional Medal of Honor

Cailloux’s valor, and the Black troops he led in battle, electrified northern opinion and gave federal race policy a strong jolt.
by Lawrence N. Powell via Muster on October 19, 2021
Soldier walking through barracks

Army to Memorialize Black Soldier Lynched on Georgia Base 80 Years Ago

Pvt. Felix Hall’s killers were never brought to justice.
by Alexa Mills via Washington Post on August 1, 2021
Jefferson Wiggins.

History Forgot About These Black Soldiers of WWII. Now, a Group Is Remembering Their Work.

Mieke Kierkels and Chris Dickon have been collaborating on several projects to remember the sacrifices of African American soldiers during World War II.
by Denise M. Watson via The Virginian Pilot on April 29, 2021
Sergeant Major William L. Henderson and hospital steward Thomas H.S. Pennington of Twentieth US Colored Troops Infantry Regiment in uniform.

'Black Resistance Endured': Paying Tribute to Civil War Soldiers of Color

In a new book, the often under-appreciated contribution that black soldiers made during the civil war is brought to light with a trove of unseen photos.
by Nadja Sayej via The Guardian on January 27, 2021

A Military 1st: A Supercarrier is Named After an African-American Sailor

USS Doris Miller will honor a Black Pearl Harbor hero and key figure in the rise of the Civil Rights Movement.
by Jay Price via NPR on September 29, 2020

Why 'Glory' Still Resonates More Than Three Decades Later

Newly added to Netflix, the Civil War movie reminds the nation that black Americans fought for their own emancipation.
by Kevin M. Levin via Smithsonian on September 14, 2020

America's Black Soldiers

The long history behind the Army's Jim Crow forts.
by Elizabeth D. Samet via The American Scholar on July 11, 2020

These Photos Capture the Lives of African American Soldiers Who Served During World War II

Pittsburgh photographer Teenie Harris focused on the patriotism of men who fought for the country abroad while being discriminated against at home.
by Dominique Luster via Smithsonian on May 22, 2020
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The Civil War and the Black West

On the integrated Union regiments composed of white, black, and native men who fought in the Civil War's western theatre.
by William Loren Katz via HNN on August 18, 2019

A Black Medic Saved Hundreds on D-Day. Was He Deprived of a Medal of Honor?

Waverly Woodson treated at least 200 injured men on D-Day, despite being injured, himself.
by Jesse Greenspan via HISTORY on June 4, 2019
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