We take you now inside the sis money and the Smithsonian Museum of africanamerican history and culture, we return fighting, the africanamerican experience in world war i. Retired colonel Krewasky Salter guest associate curator. First explain, the meaning behind the title. It hints at a story beyond two years of service and fighting over there. Actually, exactly, we return, fighting, the africanamerican experience, world war i. Number one. You dont see the world military. It is not just about soldiers. It is about civilians. Men and women. Soldiers and civilians. Young and old. White and black. That is the long title. The short title, we return fighting, speaks to what happened after the war and how africanamericans used world war i as a transformative event for them, just like it was a transformative event throughout the globe. We explore that story throughout this hour of washington journal, day five of museum week on washington journal with our friends at America History tv, cspan3. Phone lines split up regionally. Eastern or central time zones, 202 7488000. Mountain or pacific time zones, 202 7488001. Special line set aside for africanamerican veterans, 202 7488002. Would love to hear from you as we explore this observe exhibit at the africanamerican museum of history and culture. Temporary exhibit, how long will this be up . How did this idea to focus on this story get included in the museum and open in december . It opened december 13 last year. It will be up until june 14, this year. Last year, the 100th anniversary of world war i. A part of our mission is to illuminate always the story of americans through the africanamerican lens. We wanted to make sure that experience during world war i was also highlighted. The reason the exhibition opened in 2019 and is still running goes directly to the title we talked about, we return fighting. The exhibition is not just about the africanAmerican Military experience. It is about africanamerican life and how africanamericans used world war i as a foundation to plant the seeds for what became the Civil Rights Movement after world war ii generation came back from fighting overseas as well. We thought about this exhibition as early as 201415, when i was talking to my then boss at the smithsonian, that we should do something for world war i. A couple years later, he, rick, and then founding director, lonnie, now the secretary of the smithsonian went to france and they came back and planted the seed that we would do a world war i exhibition. Then the guest curator and subject matter for military history, got the nod to do this exhibition. The exhibition speaks to not just what happened in the war but what happened after. Military history first. U. S. Joins world war i. What role did the military planners see africanamerican soldiers playing . How much was that shaped by the service of africanamericans during the civil war, some of those civil war veterans who would have still been alive in their 70s and 80s by the time world war i broke out . Thats a great question, the book and is 1865 in 1963 on the back, and so when we talk about the exhibition we also plant the seat of what was going on in america between 1865 after the American Civil War and before world war one. So what was shaping the experience and the use of African Americans was partly the service of African Americans in the civil war and on the western frontier. So lets talk about the American Civil War, the 13th amendment which abolished slavery in 1865, the 17th amendment which gave, sorry correction the 14th amendment 1968 which gave African Americans citizenship and the 17th, 15th amendment in 1870 they gave African American man in the right to vote, the reorganization active 1866 that made act for gun americans in the permanent part of the military and then reconstruction where there was an uptake in the life and the progress African Americans. When you get to world war one there is not this idea that we want to put African Americans on the battlefield because what happened after the civil war there was an uptake, also there was a fear to not arm large groups of African Americans, so during will door when the push was to use African Americans largely as services for supply rule but there were two African American divisions but i also want to back up and talk about the first interpretation when you talk about what was setting the stage, when you walk into the exhibition the first interpretation has three conversations going on. You have a conversation between scholar w. He did to boys. You have richard wilson, then there is a conversation with and activists rand, often jacksonville florida. So de bois says in the crisis of magazine, his sentiment before 1917, African Americans should put their separate grievances aside, pose ranks with their white brother in while this war lasts and fight, so that was around the same time where president wilson goes for joint session of congress and in that sevenpage speech we all remember the nine, ten, 11 werent phrase where we must fight to make the world safe for democracy, so when African Americans hear that, they believe because they are citizens, they are fourth or fifth generation americans and the leading scholar de bois, saying most believe and many of them supports the war however there is a third conversation going on and when you walk into the exhibition you see his quote we would rather make georgia say for the knee grow. Each of them has an image, the image under him as three individual and kkk regalia, so the image that you see under ran off quote and the image of the president and the capital and the young man joining the war are all within a year span, so when you understand that African Americans are going to fight a war to make it safer for democracy and many of them believe that the world and america will be safer them when they get back you understand the rest of the exhibition. The exhibition we are exploring today, fighting the african experience in world war one, a special phone line for africanamerican veterans, 202 7488002. Otherwise, phone lines split up regionally. Eastern, central time zones, 202 7488000. Mountain, pacific time zones, 202 7488001. How many africanamerican soldiers would serve 19171919 . What did the british and french allies think of those soldiers . During the war, 400,000 africanamericans served during world war i. 200,000 of those went overseas. That was the number that served. When they went overseas, a portion of the africanamericans served under the french, the 93rd infantry division, which included 4 africanamerican regiments. When they served under the french, they were treated with a level of equality that they have not experienced in america. The french treated them as equal. They were happy to get these soldiers. Remember, 1917, by the time the u. S. Entered the war, it has been going on three years for the french and british. British forces, when you talk about africanamericans, there is very little contact, if any, between africanamericans and British Forces during world war i. The british did have their colonial forces, west indian forces. When you talk about africanamerican soldiers and their contact with european counterparts, in this exhibition, we not only interpret the story of African Americans but also of black people throughout the globe, the black tsdiaspora. When the french went to war, it was immediate in 1914. The british had 15,000 black colonial troops that went to war in 1914. Even germany had 4 colonies on the continent of africa. There was little contact between africanamericans and the british but there was a lot between africanamericans and the french and not only the 93rd division that fought with the french but you have almost roughly 160,000 africanamerican services of supply soldiers throughout ports in france and making sure supplies get forwarded. There is that interest in seeing these africanamericans, who are not the French Colonial troops most french people have been reading about. About 45 minutes left and i specially want to hear from you in your comments as we to wear this exhibit with you and learn about the history and let you ask your questions david is on that line for African American veterans, out of detroit david john. Thank you washington general and colonel salt or i have a question for you i am just finishing up this wonderful book its called the blood runs read its about a gentleman by he jane fuller. Absolutely hes interpreted within the exhibition. Okay, i was wondering, i havent heard you mention, him if im not mistaken, but he was one of the first African American combat pilots. Well let colonel salted pick up from their. Absolutely well he was not one of the first, he was the first African AmericanFighter Pilot or combat pilot if you will so lets talk about that definition, there is no mistake that the Tuskegee Airmen were the first African American combat pilots to fly for the united states. So eugene blurred flew for the french. When you talk about that contact, the u. S. Was not training African Americans to fly was already in france before the war he was, his father got into a fight it was a boxer any joined a legion hes interpreted different times when you have that global war and im pointing a little bit because were in the gallery he joined a French Foreign legion he was wounded that were done actually one of the two bloody battles in 1916 and then he became a pilot. Then he became a pilot, he flew with the french. The continuation of his story, where we interpret him after the war, is also part of that. He owns a club for a short time. He is a manager of many clubs. He is one of the drummers. We have footage in this exhibition of him playing drums. Eugene bullard, interpreted within this exhibition. He is a key to the africanamerican experience during world war i, although he served with the french. Another individual story explored. Sergeant thomas shaw. Sergeant thomas shaw represents what we talked about earlier. What is going on with the black experience between 18651917. He was a buffalo soldier, the ninth calvary regiment. 1891 awarded the medal of honor. His particular story, they were fighting in mexico. They were outnumbered, 31. He exposed himself in what we call today, suppressive fire, to allow his comrades to survive that particular battle. He is interpreted within exhibition, a story develops around artifacts. We own his medal of honor at the Smithsonian National museum of africanamerican history and culture. Medal of honor as an affecting his image not to highlight him, but the fact that average americans had been serving their country since the American Civil War but actually African Americans have been serving their country before the boston massacre which is where we often start with. They have served in all wars, the colonial war as well. Africanamerican veterans have a special line we have set aside, 202 7488002. We would love to hear from you. Phone lines open for everyone else. 202 7488000, eastern, central time zones. 202 7488001, mounted and pacific mountain pacific time zones. Good morning, colonel salter, thank you for your service. Is it true when africanamerican soldiers would come back to america, if they are fighting for this country, they would be attacked or lynched if they had uniforms on . Is that true . It is true africanamerican veterans were lynched during the red summer. We have interpretation of that. The red summer was not just a three month period of the calendar year summer. It starts on april 1, 1919 and runs through november, 1919. It is a period in this country after africanamericans go, close ranks, put their grievances aside, as w. E. B. Dubois said, and they go to fight to make the world safe for democracy, as the president said, juxtaposed against what randall said, they come back to a nation, 1919, bloodier than 1916, 1915, 1914. And that interpretation, we thought about, how do you make this red summer pop . A lot of us read about it in textbooks. Exhibition tells the story, a picture is worth 1000 words. When you come here, you see those nearly 40 riots that happened throughout the country. Most of them in the southeast. Then you see this note at the bottom. 53 separate lynchings happened. During the red summer. How do you make it pop . We researched and identified 12 veterans who were lynched during the red summer and their names are on that graphic. There were veterans who were lynched in 1919 after world war i. I will tell the story one, im sorry, go ahead. Tell the story, please. The last name on there is a guy namely were johnston, so when you come to the exhibition the 12th name is ali or johnston. He was from yulin, arkansas, and a lot of us who are story and snow about the riot in elaine, arkansas in september early october of 1919. He and three of his brothers came back from a hunting trip and all four of them were killed. The key thing about the roy johnston, all soldiers served whether you are in a combat unit or a service of supply unit here survive europe he was actually in the 369 infantry regiment which we know is the Harlem Health fighters, so he was a veteran who served in the trenches and came back and was lynched. Each one of those 12 soldiers house assault story, but that is one i think would be interesting to highlight based on your question. Thanks for asking. You mentioned a picture is worth 1000 words, a flag might be worth 1000 words as well. We we have been showing viewers images of a flag, a man was lynched yesterday. Ok, so, when we talk about why this exhibition is, correction 2019 2020 the title, we returned to fighting, the experience of africanamericans was not just about the battlefield. Based on what we talked about, when you are immersed in the exhibition coming in, learning about black life, then you come to this area where we have 13 interpretations, this great Photo Gallery behind me, then you go to the end of the exhibition, what happens after the war . The new negro emerges, this aggressive Africanamerican Community who is no longer willing to accept the status quo that they had been living in before the war, after hearing those comments. What the naacp did is they made this flag and they hung it over headquarters in new york for 18 years, 19201938. They did it based on what you said is on the flag. A man was lynched yesterday. The intent was to highlight, this is still going on in this country. Somewhere there is a log, i cannot tell you how many days it flew, but every day after a man was lynched, the naacp hung that flag over headquarters. The key thing about that flag is it is owned by the library of congress. Temporary exhibition. It is not really something we want to collect all of these items. Some items are oneofakind. They gave that to us on loan. When it comes off exhibition, june 14, because it is a textile, it will go into storage for another 10 years. For those of us, like me, a historian, or a student reading books, and we saw that flag as an image, it is actually here. That is what the flag represents. It goes along with the red summer. What africanamericans were doing and their white supporters, and that is key about the exhibition as well, and the museum. You know, museums should exist to tell inclusive stories. We are talking about people who are pushing the africanamerican experience forward, not just africanamericans. There is a representative from st. Louis, missouri, leah oneida stier. He put forward an antilynching bill which never passed. That flag is just a strong image. Naacp had the audacity to make this flag and hang it over headquarters. Halfway through this, our final stop of our museum week series on washington journal, exploring d. C. Area museums, talking about the american experience. We are at the Smithsonian National museum of africanamerican history and culture. Our guest, colonel Krewasky Salter taking your phone calls. 202 7488002 for africanamerican veterans. Other phone lines split up regionally. Washington, d. C. , up next with colonel salter. As an africanamerican woman and an older, i am 84, how does that exhibit, how is it related or has responded to by the millennial, the new group of young people, the millennials i think they call them . Thank you. Yes, maam. Thank you. I will tell you from children as young as 10 i see coming in with parents to great senior americans as yourself in their 80s, everyone is responding to the exhibition very well throughout ages. As curators, our images are not plastered all over the place. I would assume some of my colleagues do what i do often. I created the military galley, the permanent gallery on the third floor and was fortunate enough to cure this. I go through those galleries incognito. Incognito, i know what is in the exhibition. I am standing next to individuals, watching people. I will tell you, young and old, in between, of all races, nationalities i was here with a couple french people yesterday afternoon, they are responding well people get it. One of the things impressed on all of us as inaugural curators by individuals in the museum arena a long time was to tell a story that resonates. Tell the unvarnished truth story. Tell the story people need to hear, not necessarily what they want to hear. I have learned that is why everybody is responding well. People can also see themselves. Everyone can almost see themselves in this exhibition. Nine luminary individuals, six men, three women, seven civilians, two soldiers. Millennials can see themselves in people like a philip randolph, just a fiend baker Josephine Baker, two of those younger people who are there age in 1917 and 1927. Everyone is responding to it well, from what i see and what we hear. On that line for africanamerican veterans, nathaniel, smyrna, georgia. Thank you for that colonel salter, thank you for serving. Thank you, nathaniel. I am a disabled veteran myself. Thank you for serving and i appreciate your service. This is the war where when everyone came back, oklahoma city, where they dropped a bomb, kansas, oklahoma they dropped a bomb on the black people coming up with their own schools, the kids dressed up going to class, going to school, then after the war was over, when everyone came back and they saw what was happening, they had a picnic and dropped a bomb on them. I believe youre talking about tulsa, oklahoma, 1921, after world war i. Black wall street. There are a lot of ties to that story. To keep answers short, i will tell the piece you are exactly right, it happens after world war i, 1921. We interpret tulsa in this exhibition. Everything that fits together. There is a key story not in this exhibition that folks dont know about. There is a woman, olivia hooks, the first africanamerican, a woman in the coast guard, world war ii. Just like Josephine Baker who experienced the east st. Louis riots, 1917, went on to be what she became. Hooks experienced the tulsa, oklahoma riot, 1921. She just passed away a couple years ago. That incident did happen after world war i. Why was a bomb dropped in tulsa . Can you give some background . Olivia hooker tells in her story, a lot of these attacks, there were people in uniform and some of them were local national guardsmen. There were bombs dropped in the city, burned from the top down. Dropped from a military airplane . I dont know if it was from a military airplane. That is part of the story i am not completely sure or whether it was artillery. I am not completely sure on that aspect of the story. A couple of questions from folks on twitter as we have been having this conversation. Just a couple of quick ones, steve asking there is black jack are showing, but he was white. He earned his nickname commanding black troops in the spanish american war. Is that the history of the . Yeah, black jack and reinterpreted, and i am gesturing because im in the gallery, but we interpret that not too far from my right side he earned the name blackjack. He served with the buffalo soldiers. Interpretations are sort of all over the place. Some folks use it as a term of endearment and some folks used it as a pejorative term. There was another name he was called that began with a n, because he had served with africanamerican troops. Blackjack pershing did have a relationship with africanamericans, soldiers, and he had a relationship with one of our luminaries, Charles Young. He was at west point a couple years before Charles Young graduated in 1889. The name originates from his service with buffalo soldiers. Uncle sam writing on twitter, was there ever any black generals in world war i . No, there was not. The first africanamerican general was not promoted until 1940. Benjamin o davis senior, the highestranking africanamerican, during world war i, was a gentle man i just referred to, colonel Charles Young. He has interpreted several times throughout the exhibition. The third africanamerican to graduate west point, 1889. World war i, he was a Lieutenant Colonel when the war started. He had gone through the board and was in line to be proted to colonel. He was involuntarily retired for medical reasons. He was reinstated five days before the war ended and there is a story behind that. There were no africanamerican general officers during world war i. Tony, newport, tennessee. Good morning. A couple of things. I was in vietnam. 196566 and my father was also a military man. I didnt know about being prejudice. I was on army bases most of the time with my parents. When i wound up going to fort bragg, 3 00 in the morning by train, i noticed a slave market was still in the middleoftheroad down there. Signs on the wall that said, shop between seventh and ninth. [indiscernible] advertising on space, white women doing the maps, backgrounds, because they did not have computers. It was three black women, kathleen johnson, dorothy spencer, i think, and there was one more, mary jackson . Thank you for bringing it up. Do you wanna pick up that story . Yeah, so thank you for your service. Thank you for being one of our great americans who served our country especially during the vietnam war. So, what i believe the gist of his question is, is that he did not see and im not sure if i picked up on all, of it but he was talking about how he did not experience or see a lot of racism until he went to north carolina, and he is probably talk about four in carolina where he saw black shop between seven and nine, so i think his question is, that even in the 1960s, you still have some of this going on, and if that is still his question, that is absolutely correct. America is still not a perfect country, so in the 1960s, although the military blended the way as far as institution to integrate in the 19 fifties, you still have some Turbulent Times going on in the 1960s. I can think of two or three different stories of retired African American seniors and list of sub soldiers and officers were still there today who came in the military in the sixties, and were still experiencing some level of racism when they were assigned a certain location that they wanted to buy a house, or they wanted to go off base, and eat at a hamburger establishment, so i think his question is that thank you for jumping in. I should have mentioned, when you were talking the history of africanAmerican Military officers, a good book on that topic, the story of black military officers, 18611948. The author of that book, sitting with us this morning. Taking your phone calls. On the line for africanamerican veterans. I cannot believe this, absolute serendipity. This is only the third time i have been able to get through to cspan. For me to get through this time, i dont know where to start. I will speak quickly. Colonel salter, i have to get in touch with you. I think we may be related. I have five of the most beautiful, i mean, huge, portraits and they are all salters. Where are you from . There are stamps on the back, 1868, 1870. The other thing, my husbands grandfather was on the m rock news, in the office outside with the people in cologne. That is the first thing. The other thing is, im so excited, i cant believe this, James Monroe Trotter is the great great uncle of my husband. Mary Church Terrell is my great aunt, great great aunt on my mother side. I am sure we are related but that you are related on all these people on different sides of my family. Trotter and turrell . Trotter is on my husband side. Thompson, carol thompson, on the m rock news and my husband, James Monroe Trotter, obviously we will give the colonel a chance to talk about his background. Thank you for calling in with that. First of all, john, you did catch me off guard. Thanks for that plug. I didnt know youre going to mention the book, and to the caller, thank you so much. There is a lot there, but i do want to pick up on one thing. You do know mary church, because we pronounce it that way, those who are listening, saying no its terrell, but working here at this museum, one of my colleagues has interpreted this, and so has no one road trotter, they were going to correct the items, and they learned of the family said no we dont pronounce it that way, we are not the other way. To get your question, yes i am a 25 Year American soldier. My father is an american soldier, he served for 40 years. He is from southern alabama, have evil, age seven move down to panama city, florida, and that is where my mother is from. The salt are part of my family is from alabama, we have some of a Public Affairs you can get in touch with me through the smithsonian and it will pass that information on, so the salter family is very large and it would be very interesting to find out what are those corrections, because as a historian, being at this museum, i get some of my colleagues and there is one of my colleagues who just recently learned from looking at the index at the back of my book, her great grandfather or her great grand uncle was one of the African American officers in the native guards of louisiana. So, yes, you get in touch with me. Through the smithsonian, and we will see. 20 minutes left to explore the exhibit. I want to let viewers walk around the exhibit in the form of a sketchbook you have. Who is Horace Pippen . That is a great question, an exhibition tells the story in many ways and so, this is a story about the African American experience and world war one, so we have these objects which are actually in the cultural part of the exhibition. When people hear chorus, people say yeah i know him, he is part of the African American renaissance artists, that is who we is so we have a painting in the exhibition called dog fight over the battlefield, a very famous painting by Horace Pippen in 1935. To go back to your specific question, sketchbook, we also have his sketchbook on display which he wrote in 1920. In that sketchbook and i think i know this almost verbatim, he says that day i have seen three german, and one french plane, coming down. And then i do the interpretation, that perhaps, it was the inspiration for this 1935 painting. So, who was Horace Pippen . Horace pippen was a veteran of world war one who served in the trenches. He served in the 369th infantry regiment known as the harlem held fighters, he went into the trenches with the regimen as early as april of 1918 he shot his first german he talks about that on 14 april, he is badly wounded in late september, and that is why Horace Pippen was that painter, and i forget which arm that painted with one hand. He is actually one of those world war one veterans, who because of his experience in the war, he painted a lot of paintings that really resonated from that, and so we have his sketchbook, and we have the painting, and both of those are on loan. One, the sketch book is from the smithsonian archives, and what the painting to us, and that is who Horace Pippen was. There are a lot of stories like that, i think a lot of people would be surprised to learn about people who they know that he was a world war one veteran, if i were to say charles houston right now, 95 of the people who are listening who know Charles Hamilton houston, say i know him, he was a lawyer, and that is exactly who he was. He trained one third of the African American lawyers in Harvard Law School in 1940 and 1950 in america, to include Thurgood Marshall he became an officer who served in world war one, in the 368 regimen, and when you came back in the war because the experience that he had, was a horrible experience, he made his fathers dream come true. His father was a lawyer, his father always wanted him to be a lawyer, and so Charles Hamilton houston finally decided to become a lawyer because of his experience in world war ii. So, Horace Pippen and Charles Hamilton houston, and i think we have talked with a few others. World war one was a transformative event for many reasons, and so when we get to the point where we are setting and planting the seeds for the Civil Rights Movement, Thurgood Marshall writes when Charles Hamilton houston dies in 1951, 52, or 53, he says we would not have gotten anywhere, or we would not be where we are without charlie. He is referring to Charles Hamilton houston. We all know the history of Thurgood Marshall. Less than 15 minutes left in the segment. A lot of calls. William, emporia virginia, africanamerican veterans. How are you . Doing well, you are on with colonel salter. I was in the navy, 1955. There was a lot of discrimination going on then. To make a long story short, i was on one vessel. I was sent there to be the bomber. They did not want me to be the bomber. I was rated. E1. Doing my job [indiscernible] another ship i went aboard, they may be the master at arms. I was in charge of the laundry. They did not want me to write anything. When i got ready to transfer from the ship, they wrote up evaluation on me. They werent supposed to do that. When they wrote the evaluation up, they gave me as low as they could get me. My parents they put me, not observed. I have my orders, went to the executive officer, secondincommand. I asked, sir, how can they evaluate me and never seen me . Look what they got me for my evaluation. He told me, said, boy, only thing i can tell you, square yourself away when you get to your next duty station. Tears rolling down my cheeks. I wasnt there for 90 days. Three months before they evaluated. What do you take from that . Thank you for sharing your story. Thank you for your service, william. I was going to ask how long he was in the navy. My mothers brother served in the navy 20 years around that same time. Again, 1955, ebb and flow. The caller has bad experiences serving in the navy, 1965, and there are people serving in the navy today who are having bad expenses for whatever reason. 1955, the navy was a service like most others, who had already begun to integrate. The navy had their first africanamerican officers 12 years before our caller, william, again, thanks for your service, certainly, 1955, you have to remember the American Military is made up, any military is made up of the people of the country they live in and that is the beauty of our democracy. I certainly understand and appreciate william had some bad experiences. But the navy on the other hand was also making progress in the 1950s. Thank you for your service. I wish i could talk to you longer to find out how things eventually turned out for you. Melvin, fort pierce, florida, africanamerican veterans. Good morning. Colonel salter, thank you for your service. Just wanted to say that. Also, i am working with a nonprofit, because for the brave, a veterans nonprofit organization, and i was wondering, how can we get detailed info, accurate, out like this on a yearly or yearround basis as opposed to just being segmented to the month of february . Also, what could organizations, such as cause of the brave do to obtain information or set up locations to have that Information Available to the public . Excellent questions. Thank you melbourne for your question, and thank you for what you do for our veterans. You said a lot of things there, and im listening closely, one of the things you said is as opposed to only black history month, we like to say, and i actually say this all the time, every month African American history month. As an African American historian, so yes the way can get this information out all year here is to continue to do what you do and if you have time to come to the exhibition before it closes on the 14th of june this year, but you know, a temporary exhibition has a shelf life and a book also has a shelf life, so i hope you can see this book. We were fortunate enough that our Deputy Director got a lot of us thinking of our scholarly advisers and after listening to me talk to her on some of our stories, she said we should do a companion book. You can buy this book, the shelf life of this exhibition ends on the 14th of june, if you put this on your bookshelf, the shelf life is forever. It has the same short title as the exhibition, we return fighting. The long title, is world war one and the shaping of modern black identity. And that goes for what we talked about, how world war one, you know, set the stage and planted the seeds for the Civil Rights Movement. So, this book, and we are always about that is an exhibition is not about the book on the wall, as a historian, we like to box eloquently. So the book, actually, allows us to put more information than what is in the exhibition. You can use this book because it is written by myself, and five other scholars, our founding director writes the intro, and the epilogue. So, that is one way you can keep the story alive beyond the closing of the exhibition. New york city, denise. Hi, good morning. A pleasure to speak with you. My grandfather served in world war i. Three 69th, he was one of the harlem hell fighters, company d. Most of the time, you only hear about company c of the three 69th 369th. They were a little more famous. Is there anyway you can get info, i am trying to get information like pictures and everything, that you can get on all the companies a, b, c, d . Yes, maam. First of all, specifically, i want to go in a different direction based on what you said, 1918, so, those records and a lot of that history would be number one, in the national archives, downtown, d. C. , also unit records in the national archives, college park. I cannot tell you exactly where that info might be located in either one of those. The individual Service Records would be either here in washington dc or, if they survived, in st. Louis. Unit records would probably be in college park. 369th armory is still in new york city. They may have some info. There are a number of books written recently, one of our scholarly advisors, they wrote the book on the rattlers. If you go to the footnote, you will see a lot of where they got their info. I want to talk about, we keep talking about the 369th i want you and viewers to know, it was only one of eight africanamerican regiments that fought. They get recognition for several reasons. Because they are known, we have an interpretation that really focuses on them but they were just 1 8 of the africanamerican regiments that fought in the trenches. When you say companies, for me, as a historian, i cant tell you the story of every company but i think those 4 locations and a couple books and footnotes may direct you to some info you are looking at were looking for. Five minutes left this morning. Africanamerican veterans line, lake village, arkansas john. Good morning. How are you . Doing well. How are you . I just wanted to make known blacks have sacrificed, even in the 1960s, we were being mistreated. Rotc, officers, camp, a lot of people did not want to did not want us to make it as officers. People know we sacrificed a lot of things, went through a whole lot of stuff to be military people and serve our country. Yes, sir. Mr. Salter, do you want to expand . Pretty much on the same line as our earlier caller, 1955, certainly, into the 1960s, 1970s, there were still racism in our services because, again, the u. S. Military is made up of a microcosm of america. There are always those juxtapositions because many of our retired generals and admirals who came in the military as early as the late 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, my father was drafted in 1951. He experienced a level of racism, obviously, in the 1960s, he stayed in the military 34 years. Certainly, that was happening in the 1960s. Because there were always going to be people who are not exactly happy everybody is a part of this american pie. That is why this exhibition is so important. People have to continue to be informed, continue to agitate and to move our country forward so we continue to be the greatest country on the face of the globe. Colonel salter, two minutes left, but i wanted to give you a chance, this is a temporary exhibit, but do you have a favorite piece or story you want to mention in our final two minutes . I absolutely do, because that question, it always ends like this. It is wherever i am in the gallery, because almost every story is great. I will just talk about where i sit right now. I happen to be sitting and what we call the Photo Gallery. As curators, we are the face of an exhibition, but there are a lot of people that help us get from a to b, you know specialists, research assistance, project managers, servers the, so forth and so on, designers, one of the design meetings i mentioned that i would like to have a Photo Gallery, and this is the beautiful Photo Gallery that was designed. So, today, because im sitting here, this is my favorite section of the exhibition. Of the 30 some odd interpretations, i just believe all of them come together well, so it is hard for me to pick one of my favorites. Understandable. Colonel Krewasky Salter, curator of the exhibit, we return fighting, the africanamerican experience in world war i, it will close june 14, at the Smithsonian National museum of africanamerican history and culture and we appreciate you inviting us in this morning. Thank you very much, sir. Thank you, john. We appreciate it. We appreciate it