African American soldiers

Scope and Contents This collection contains a handwritten autopsy report by A.B. Campbell, the post surgeon at Fort Ringgold in Texas, which documents the cause of death and wounds of Jeremiah “Jerry” Owsley, Moses Turner, and Bartolo Ibara. Owsley and Turner were Black soldiers in Company G of the 9th Cavalry. Their deaths were investigated by their commanding officer, Edward Hatch, who believed the men had been ambushed, robbed, and killed by twenty-five to forty cattle thieves who lived “on both sides of...

Scope and Contents This collection consists of four educational teaching folders produced by the Black American Program under the Alabama Center for Higher Education’s CEMBA initiative. The folders were created in the 1970s to support high school and college instruction in African American history, particularly in the context of Alabama’s social and political developments. Each illustrated folder (measuring 8.75 x 13.75 inches) contains a themed booklet and between eight and eleven facsimiles of historical...

Scope and Contents This collection contains a typed manuscript by a Civil War veteran, J.E. Pettit, and a leaflet announcing the eleventh reunion of the Society of United States Military Corp and Old Time Telegraphers' Association, where he is believed to have spoken about his experiences in 1891. An Incident in My Life, the primary document, is eighteen typed pages. It describes Fort Henderson in Athens, Alabama, noting its capture, the number of Black Union soldiers stationed...

Scope and Contents This collection consists of a Civil War-era military payment voucher issued to First Lieutenant Charles M. Pease of the Tenth U.S. Colored Infantry, dated June 8, 1864, at New Bern, North Carolina. The large-format printed document (17 x 11 inches, folded) records Pease’s monthly pay of $122.41 for May 1864, including compensation and clothing allowance for his personal servant, Arthur Paine, described as white with black hair and black eyes. The document is signed by Pease in his role as...

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Letters concerning Robinson's request for a commission in the "colored service" of the U.S. Army during the Civil War.

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This collection contains legal and financial documents related to two African American Revolutionary War soldiers from Connecticut, Cash Palatine and Liverpool Wadsworth.

Scope and Contents This collection contains a letter from Francis M. Pickett to his friend “Aus," who was also a Union soldier serving in a USCT regiment. In addition to including personal reflections on the duration of the Civil War, Pickett mentions mutual acquaintances from Kansas and romantic relationships, including the marriage of friends and Pickett’s own engagement. He briefly discusses General William Tecumseh Sherman and politics, focusing on the Copperheads (Northern Democrats who opposed the war)....

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A Southeast Army Air Forces Training Center appointment to first lieutenant for Smith, a Tuskegee Airman.

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Family documents, military documents, and approximately forty-seven photographs depicting Grant Gordon's family and military life in the 1940s. Of particular interest are Mr. Gordon's military records and photographs from his time serving as a squad leader in the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion, the only African American combat unit included in the first assault forces to land on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944.

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This collection contains the enlistment papers of John Parks, an African American who joined the 2nd Kansas Colored Infantry when they were recruiting in Sebastian County, Arkansas. The document includes the signatures of A.D. Tenny, the assistant surgeon for the regiment, and Lieutenant John Hayes to indicate Parks is sober and in good physical condition. It also includes Parks' occupation, description, and age.

Scope and Contents This collection comprises two four-page handwritten letters authored by Levi G. Heck, a Union officer who served in both the 52nd Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment and the 127th United States Colored Troops (USCT) during the American Civil War. The first letter, dated June 21, 1863, was written from Corinth, Mississippi, during the siege of Vicksburg. In it, Heck discusses the relative calm within his regiment and reports on cavalry efforts in western Tennessee that resulted in the...

Scope and Contents This collection consists of a single, full-length portrait photograph of an African American infantry lieutenant in U.S. Army service uniform, taken circa 1930. The officer is posed formally, wearing a Sam Browne belt, M1902 saber, and riding boots with spurs. Though unidentified, the subject was likely a member of the 366th Infantry Regiment, the only African-American regiment at the time.The photograph was acquired at a northern Virginia auction that also included ROTC-related...

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Thirty seven framed photographs of African Americans in military uniforms, Border War, WWI, and WWII including portraits of Duncan Fields and Rubin Fields; portraits of women and families; large plaque with two photos of military men (Willie L. E. Means and James E. Means, date of their enlistment in the army).

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One broadside advertising four events at the Soldiers' Club spanning August 31-September 2, 1918, for soldiers sponsored by the War Camp Community Service in Charlotte, North Carolina. The events are a dance, a concert, a reception advertising white soldiers should be in uniform, and a baseball game between "colored soldiers" and the Negro League team, the Charlotte Red Sox.

Scope and Contents This collection contains a broadside that was designed to recruit Black men as Union soldiers. Issued by the Union Army during the American Civil War, the broadside features an illustration of a Black soldier dressed in a blue uniform and holding a U.S. flag with a banner that reads "Freedom to the Slave." In the background, African Americans march into battle, read the newspaper, attend public school, and are freed from enslavement. Text on the reverse side of the broadside references...

Scope and Contents This collection consists of a handwritten speech by Reverend V. M. Townsend entitled "The Negroes Are God’s Modern Israel,” delivered in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, shortly after the end of World War I in 1918. The address praises the courage and patriotism of Black soldiers, drawing parallels between them and the Biblical Israelites. He stresses African Americans' role in key victories, specifically the Battle of Chateau-Thierry, stating that they fought and died so others might experience the...

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Letters from this African American soldier who served in the 310th Quartermaster Railhead Company during World War II to his family in Montgomery, Alabama.