Archive For The “History Blog” Category
A Top-Ranking Black Female Officer Harriet M. Waddy: She was one of the two highest-ranking black officers in the women’s Army Corps in World War II. She said that joining the segregated military ”and accepting a situation which does not represent an ideal of democracy” was not ”a retreat from our fight” but ”our contribution to…
First Black Marines Montford Point Marines: They trained at a facility called Montford Point that operated at Camp Lejeune, N.C., from 1942 to 1949, when the military was segregated. While the achievements of the Tuskegee Airmen and buffalo soldiers are well-documented, the Marines have received little recognition. Until now, that is. Congress recently voted to…
Above and Beyond the Call of Duty (Medal of Honor) Cpl. Freddie Stowers: On Sept. 28, 1918, while serving as squad leader of Company C, 371st Infantry Regiment, 93rd Division, Stowers went above and beyond the call of duty when his company led the attack at Hill 188, Champagne Marne Sector, France, according to his Medal…
First Casualty of the American Revolution Crispus Attucks: The former slave was the first casualty of the American Revolutionary War when he was killed during the Boston Massacre. In 1888 the Crispus Attucks monument was unveiled in the Boston Common.
In August 1831, Nat Turner struck fear into the hearts of white Southerners by leading the only effective slave rebellion in U.S. history. Born on a small plantation in Southampton County, Virginia, Turner inherited a passionate hatred of slavery from his African–born mother and came to see himself as anointed by God to lead his people…
A “WHITE MAN’S WAR”? Black soldiers had fought in the Revolutionary War and—unofficially—in the War of 1812, but state militias had excluded African Americans since 1792. The U.S. Army had never accepted black soldiers. The U.S. Navy, on the other hand, was more progressive: There, African-Americans had been serving as shipboard firemen, stewards, coal heavers and…
After he pinned on his fourth star, Air Force Gen. Daniel James Jr. summed up his thoughts on his years of military service: “I’ve fought in three wars, and three more wouldn’t be too many to defend my country. I love America, and as she has weaknesses or ills, I’ll hold her hand.” The first…
Doris Miller was a navy cook. Because he was black, the navy didn’t allow him to be much else in those days. He certainly wasn’t allowed in a combat role. But fate doesn’t follow rules. Miller, known to most people as Dorie, had enlisted in the navy as a mess attendant in 1939 and earned…
African Americans have fought for the United States throughout its history, defending and serving a country that in turn denied them their basic rights as citizens. Despite policies of racial segregation and discrimination, African American soldiers played a significant role from the colonial period to the Korean War. It wasn’t until the middle of the…
