Soldier Man Blues (Literary Digest, 1927)
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. It was written in 1927 to serve as a review for Singing Soldiers by John J. Niles, who compiled the labor songs while stationed in France as a fighter pilot:"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..."
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The Lynching of African-Americans in France (N.Y. Times, 1921)
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 quotes witness after witness who appeared before a 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."
It was alleged that the murders were committed under the authority of American officers who willingly acted outside the law.
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African-American Stevedores in the U.S. Army (The Independent, 1919)
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.
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One French Village and It's Encounter with the Men of the Ninety-Second Division (The Crises, 1919)
This is a lovely piece, originally written in French for a village paper, in which a journalist describes the collective anticipation of the townsfolk in welcoming the Americans to their sleepy hamlet -and how astonished they all were to find that the arriving Doughboys were all of African descent!
*Watch a Film Clip About the Harlem Hell Fighters*
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A Brief Look at the 92nd Division War Record (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". *Watch a Film Clip About Lt. James Reece Europe*
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Assorted Home-Front News (The Crises, 1919)
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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