Book contributor joins Howard University professors to talk about the essay in the book that inspired the exhibit and how the africanamerican experience served as a catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement. Good evening. Good evening. Good evening. Good evening. First of all, thank you all for coming out on this rainy evening. I know its a challenge, but i think its well wofrt your time to be here this evening for this discussion. Its my pleasure to welcome you to tonights program entitled historically speaking we return fighting published by smithsonian books its a collection of essays that chronicle the experience of men and women who served the country on the battlefield as well as on the home front and their struggles for civil rights. One of the many things we will learn this evening is that while the Civil Rights Movement was a world war i established important questions of citizenship that pave the way towards future progress. Were fortunate to be joined tonight by the museums Deputy Director and editor of we return fighting which includes an addition to outstanding scholarship and images and the images are really powerful of americans at war and on the homefront. It also gives us different look at the life of africanamerican face when they came back home after the war. So let me end by welcoming you and by assuring you that youre in for a woerndfnderful evening. Thank you for joining us and im sure youll have great evening. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the Deputy Director of the National Museum of africanAmerican History and culture. Good evening. Good evening. Thank you for braving the rain which we know in washington is like snow elsewhere. So thank you for being here. And thank you, spencer, for that warm welcome to everyone and for the wonderful introduction of this book. I hope that you will purchase it. And when you do, do read the acknowledgements. Because i really, if i had time i would mention names like carolyn gleason, kristina wiggington, rex ellis and others. But i dont have time laura coil and Carl Bustamante and many others. So if you look in the back, their names are all there. One of the people id like to quote from is a young man who surely had and has a promising future. Many of you have heard his name. Lonnie g. Bunch iii. We were pleased that our founding director was able to and willing to write the introduction and the epilogue to this book which is the work of many hands. Id like to quote to frame what youre going hear tonight from these amazing gentlemen. Dr. Bunch says, no single account can fully capture the africanamerican experience in world war i or tell us what the war meant for black americans in the decades afterward. When its echos were heard in president harry s. Truman desegregation order, the landmark brown versus board of education desegregation decision of 1954 and the long battles of the 1960s to gain for black citizens the democracy for which all those young men had died so long ago. Although the war did not swing open the doors in franchisement for africanamericans, it could be said that its shear scale, the slap across the worlds face of the first truly global war, did open for us a new sense of our own potential and possibilities. And, thus, set into motion an incremental Movement Toward freedom. The burdens on the backs of black americans, military or civilian, remain heavy. But our forebearers sacrifices in world war i and all the wars that have followed have not been forgotten. And they remain incontrovertible prove our entitlement to full rights as citizens of our own country. The great w. B. Debois who was waun one of the major intellectuals aptly stated in his 1919 we return fighting article written for the crisis magazine, the complexities of world war i and he wrote, we return. We return from fighting. We return fighting. Make way for democracy. We saved it in france and by the great jahova well save it in the United States of america or know the reason why. The two gentlemen youll hear tonight talking of this book which is a companion to an exhibition almost the same title that will debut in december will help us unpack those complexities and that sentiment. Tonight youll hear from our guest curator for the exhibition, we return fighting and major contributor to this publication and the First Executive director of the first museum. Dr. Greg carr, professor of African Studies and chair of the department of afroamerican studies at Howard University. And a faculty at the Howard School of law. As they discuss the vital role of africanamericans in world war i. Africanamericans who hoped to live out post civil war expectations of full citizenship upon returning home. This book reveals how they let it shape the black people and let fuel the long stabbeding efforts to demand full Citizenship Rights and to claim their place in this countrys cultural and political landscape. Had we many more hours, i could give you the amazing credentials of these brilliant men. But let me suffice to say that they are not only holders of phds in respective subjects but they have spoken widely and travelled widely on the subject. Dr. Salter is a retired u. S. Army colonel and he also curated our major exhibition on military history in our inaugural exhibitions here in the museum. Double victory, the africanamerican military experience. His publications also include the story of black military officers 18611948. Dr. Carr has numerous credentials to his name. And in addition to his work at Howard University, he is also deeply involved in the development of curriculum particularly with the city of philadelphia. But he has also worked around the world in places including salvador, ghana, egypt and the publications have appeared in among other places the africanamerican studies reader, socialism and democracy, African Studies, publications of the modern Language Association of america, and the National Urban leagues 212 state of black america and malcolm x, a historical reader. In addition to those of you that we have with us in the Oprah Winfrey theater tonight, there are others watching on youstream and we ask that all of you consider social media, anationstory. And this is and i have one other person i dont have time to recognize, but if shes here, i would like to recognize her, julie lasalle, she works with the French Embassy and one of our main connection to our colleagues in france. Were it not for them which was headed by joseph zemet we would not have the wonderful objects youll see in the exhibition that opens in december. Mr. Zemet and madam lasalle helped open the door of french museums throughout that country for loans and important objects. And theyre also a series of donors who were able to help us as well. And were grateful to all of them. And one more thing i want to say so that linda will not think that i dont know my job. This program is made possible through the support of the sharina foundation and the exhibition which opens in december is generously supported by altria group and i believe we have some members of altria here tonight, nationwide foundation, and the robert r. Mccormick foundation. And it is created, the exhibition, in partnership with the [ speaking french ] ladies and gentlemen, please, first of all, thank you for being here. Join me in welcoming dr. Salter and dr. Greg carr. Doctor, hows it going . Appreciate you, brother. How is everybody doing . All right. Good. First order of business, i guess, for us to do is to say welcome, of course. We heard from our Deputy Director and all the folks here at the museum, its an honor to be here again. And colonel, its a particular honor to sit here with you realizing that youve been deeply involved with this museum since before it was opened. You curated and this is the third exhibit that i curated . In terms of xiblexhibits tha rotated through the hall . This is the third exhibition that will rotate through the temporary exhibition in space. Excellent. Lets get right to it. First of all, this is an incredibly conceived book. If if you already bought it, great. If you dont, dont leave here without it if at all possible. So much information in such a tightly packed place but not overburdened. The language is clean. Everything in here, lets start with that. The thank you. See, mine doesnt have any brandy on it. Mine has a label. This text, we return fighting, how did you conceive this book . How did you put it together . How did you structure the text . The book is born out of the exhibition, a decision was made to do the exhibition. Then once that decision was made, i started meeting with people on a regular basis. And we were talking about the story. And she plays poker very well. So i was talking to her and she was taking everything in and she would ask me questions. I would leave the office, but i would have meetings with my then boss rex ellis. And then one day he said, she likes what youre saying. I dont know what youre saying when you meet with her. But she likes what youre saying. And then i realized that, okay, she might play poker but now i know shes listening. And so the next time i met with her, she said, not only should wi we do an exhibition, i think we can do a book. So the book was actually born when i had my oneonone meetings sitting down with her. And from that point on, not only were we executing an exhibition, we started developing the con construct for a book. You know, in a moment well talk about why world war i. Why that moment. But before we get there, you know, one of the brilliant the way this book is conceived, one of the brilliant things about it is you take some figures that we know, some events that we kind of are aware of but youre reading very differently. How did you curate the authors . And then, you know, parse out the work and then go through the editorial process to get this kind of way of talking about africanAmerican History and World History . Exactly. We already had scholars. We had scholarly advisors for the exhibition. And so when we decide who had were going to be the individuals to write for the book, it was very easy. We selected all of the scholarly advisors who were working on the exhibition. And what the scholarly advisors are, those are the people that bring the curators down to earth. I mean, you pick big brain people and you send your script to them and they help you make sure you get your interpretations right. So we selected all of the scholars for the exhibition. But one thing we had done with the exhibition was to make sure that we didnt want to drop our readers nor our visitors into the black experience in world war i without them understanding what world war i really was. So we have a part called the global war. And so the first chapter is written by jay winters, profess profess professor in germany. So it helps us understand why world war i. So he goes in detail in a very few pages on how world war i became a global war in a page and a half. And then he talks about stalemate 1916 on into the war and that is the first chapter that sets the stage. It was my mission in chapter two to do two distinct things and that was to have readers understand and we do this in the exhibition that africanamericans did not just step on the battlefield in world war i. They had been there from the beginning of the nation. And so my mission was to make sure that we understood that but also to make sure people understood what a dark world and america was for black americans. The so when you read chapter two, you see the turning back of time after the ending of slavery. The rise of jim crowism, extreme segregation, the 1883 civil rights acts which turns back the clock 13 years later plesy versus ferguson all along you have people who are being lynched and killed. We have a quote in there from robert smalls, a world war ii veteran that says in 1895 that he estimates by that time 53,000 africanamerican had been killed. We talked about mob violence. So we talk about those while at the same time africanamericans are serving in the military. So that was my mission in chapter two. And also to talk about the service of africanamericans in world war i. Chapter three is written by another of our scholars, dr. John morrow, professor of history and chair at the university of georgia. And it was his mission to create a tight shot group. Im a soldier. Some of you know shot group is you want to hit that target. A tight shot group between 1913 and 1919. S so he went a little further detail about the service of the africanamericans. But what he also brought to the table is his imperialist researcher and writer. This was the time during imperialism. So he talks about when the europeans went to war, the rest of the world went to war because they had all these colonies. And so he goes into detail. Thats key. That really is a linchpin for this. And then he also talks about the further mob violence thats going on. He talks about east st. Louis and houston in 1917. And the key to those two riots is we had already entered the war. And we were still having these types of incidences going on. So that is jay morrows piece. And then ten profiles. Three of our other scholars, chad williams, Lisa Boudreau and curtis young, they write profiles and we picked up another scholar, Brittany Cooper, powerful. She writes the piece on terrell and ida b. Wells. When you read the book, we also have a beautiful time line. Bill pretser and one of our researchers, alicia norwood, you pull that out, it goes from 1863 to 1963. And it weaves in the economic and social and military service all in that time line. We have more than 140 captions, some of the artifacts and images and our Exhibition Research assistant wrote half of those and i wrote the other half. That shou the bo. What is in the exhibition that may not be in the book and vice versa. Before we get there, the exhibit opens next month. 13 december. Its interesting. Im looking at my project manager here, too. Make sure were all on task. Its interesting. Thinking about one of your heroes, were going to talk a little while and then open it up so folks begin to think about things i want to ask and comment on. Were going to talk about colonel Charles Young. Absolutely. I think according to Robert Wilkins in his book, it was 100 years ago this december that young gives a talk because the veterans said he wanted a knee cr negro memorial. We want a museum, we want a memorial. Maybe it should be near howard. That would have been great. They cant afford to buy the property now out there. But now we have this so were good. Then the world war i veterans come back and say we want a negro memorial. But Charles Young gives a talk and says, you know, it will be nice to have a building and nice to have brass and monuments but perhaps the real monument would be to give these soldiers the thing they went abroad to fight for, the rights. Stop lynching people. I say that because im thinking about the theme that you really put together and not only in your essay but as the spine of this book. That kind of echo whats what yo. But you con conceptualize it. Thinking about world war i and how people enter that war, not just from the United States but from around the world, this concept of double victory. You know, like you say, as a career military man, risen to the highest ranks as a scholar and, you know, now as a man who is helping us interpret, you know, the experiences of not only our people but americans generally, how delicate in this world war i narrative is this balance between what black people are trying to do . You point out in your essay in earlier book and then gestured toward it that maybe more black people fought for the british than fought for the americans. Okay. So double victory, why was world war i important . The essence of double victim i have when africanamericans fought for this nation, their nation throughout history, they were not only fighting to help their nation win, they were fighting to achieve democracy and equality for themselves and their families. And so that is what double victory really means. And so when you go back to the american revolution, and estimate 6,000 africanamericans fight for the u. S. Forces. But an estimated 20,000 fight for the british. And when you take that theme forward up to the beginning of the american civil war, africanamericans were always fighting for that side which offered them the best chance at freedom. When you bring that forward to world war i, the reason why world war i to me was so important and is a bridge is because africanamericans fought when president wilson said we must fight to make the world safe for democracy. They thought that meant them. So when they went to fight, the double victory they were fighting for was not just to help america win the war when they went overseas. They were fighting that hopefully when they got back that the equalities of being a citizen, democracy, mob violence, economic stability, educational uplift and a host of other things would come to them but within 24 months after the declaration of war was given on 6 april, 1917, this thing called red summer erupted. And that is kind of what Charles Young is talking about. These soldiers of african dissent did not go to europe just to fight to help america win. They fought to help their citizens win in america. And that didnt happen. And thats why this term called the new negro came about. Yes. You know, the new negro, the phrase came about about 25 years earlier. But it was an intellectual and economic new negro. Most of us know the new negro from 1919. That was an aggressive new negro. He was the one that was embolden after fighting on the battlefield and family members and friends were also embolden to make sure what we went to fight with to make the world safe for democracy was also going to make america safe for democracy. St thats why we have the quote with a. Philip randolph. Georgia was a metaphor for america. I would rather make georgia safe for democracy when president said make the world safe for democracy, a. Philip randolph said i would rather make georgia safe for the negro. And georgia was a metaphor for america. We were talking about that backstage tj. Edgar hoover fresh out of law school in this town and taking over the military insei intelligence. He said he was the most dangerous negro in america. So thats interesting. Hes in part and maybe we are saying in terms of the title you picked and also whats in the exhibit thats not in here and vice versa. Did you ask that question already . No. I do want to ask you though relative to we return fighting, thats a quote from dubois. Yes. But randolph, i think they do brilliantly in this book, randolph is distinguishing himself from dubois. The conservative blacks, a lot of us and a lot of howard students out here tonight, they came to see you, brother, elaine lock is credited with the new negro. Howard is like atlanta. Everybody knows somebody that went to howard or worked in howard just like they know somebody in atlanta. But randolph is very critical of dubois and elaine lock, some of the conservative folks. And dubois himself, he writes to the war. Why do you pick we return fighting and make the deliberate choice not to say world war i and the shaping of black participation in the war, this broader concept . I mean, dubois is balancing something. The first one youre exactly right. A. Philip randolph and dubois was in his mid 40s in 1917. A. Philip randolph is 28 years old. And dubois was lumped in the old crowd negro. So these youngsters, if you will, and that time were labelling those individuals to old crowd negroes. Those that say close ranks and go fight which is what he said in the close rank article in 1918 but the sentiment had already been there from 15, 16, and 17. As you know, he was writing about the war when it started in 1914. When you mentioned the imperialism chapter. That is very important. It was in atlanta monthly . Yeah. The african roots. Dubois did a trip to france starting in december of 1918 for three months after the war. And he was disturbed with what he found. He mainly convinced them to close ranks and go to war. Of did he a research and he found out about all of the discrimination and some africanamericans who had lost their lives on the battlefield and some who lost their lives not on the battlefield. And sow came back and in may of 1919, thats when he wrote a juxtaposition of close ranks. He said well be fools and cowards if we go and fight for our nation and then we come back to the same nation. Im paraphrasing. That we le the reason i wrote this, the centennial of world war i is really over. But this year is the centennial of the new negro. And so thats why the exhibition is entitled we return fighting. And i think one of the questions you may have been asking is one word you dont see in the exhibition title nor in at the book, you dont see military. Yes. Yes. Its not entitle the exhibition is not entitled the africanamerican military experience in world war i. And the book is not entitled world war i and black identity. I dont see military in there for a reason. This exhibition just like double victory is not about the service necessarily of africanamericans on the battlefield. Its why they served. And the reason they served is because they were citizens of this country. They wanted to make sure that they reaped all the benefits. Its not late, its on time. We always intended for it to open in 1919. This is the centennial of the new negro. One more housekeeping piece. When folks go through the exhibit, theyre going to see remarkable things. We were talking backstage about Charles Youngs sword. So many other things. But in this book, when you pick up this book, when you start reading this book, whats in here thats not in the exhibit and vice versa . A lot in both. Okay. So number one was in the exhibition that is not in the book are the live artifacts that you can really see up close. So the book allows us to give more detail to put meat on the bones why there was a world war i, why the entire world went to war in a matter of six weeks. The book also allows us to give more detail in what is the differen differences between the 92nd and 93rd division and why the 369th and the 370th and 371st and 372nd was so important. You have that in the book. In the exhibition, we also have a few additional vignettes. Think boeth have a shelf life. The exhibition shelf life will end 14 june. This book, if you buy it, it has a shelf life that will be on your library forever. And so thats the big difference between the book and the exhibition. The exhibition will leave and we will mount another very important exhibition. I wont say what it is because i dont know if its for public c consumption but the book will be there forever. Of. Yes, sir. Now were going to shift and talk believe me, every page in this book, every paragraph can open up into a whole yes. For me, somebody that is a reader, im reading this like, wow, i mean, so there is any number of places with he can go. Certainly we want to talk about the role of the women. There are so many different ones. We can start with the heroic figures. But thinking about 1915, booker t. Washington died in 1915. Birth of a nation comes out in 1915. You have Woodrow Wilson in here. Lets pick a figure that helps us work around to some of the other conversations. Were in d. C. Charles hamilton houston. Oh, gosh, yeah. Lets talk about charlie houston. Who is known for training the people who killed jim crow as a lawyer but this dude is one of the highest ranking black officers in world war i . Is. He was a lieutenant. So thats not i see some soldiers and sailors. Very high. The. But for an africanamerican in that time, you know, he was a lieutenant. But i ask people all the time, do you no he who Charles Hamilton houston is and, you know, what is he important for . Everyone who knows him knows him as a lawyer. Thats right. But few people know that he was one of those individuals who went to ft. Des moines and earned an officership and served as a lieutenant overseas and fought in france in the 368th infantry regiment of the 92nd division. And it was that experience that he had in the military when he saw the way he was treated and other africanamericans were treated that he decided that what his father always wanted him to be which was his father was wanted him to be a lawyer and was a lawyer himself. They worked together. You have a picture of charles ill talk about that in a second. Where did you find that picture . Thats where he got his foundation to be a lawyer. No question. His experience. So lets talk did so when you open the book, i collected those. The reason i have that picture is it was a story. We knew where his tight writer was. We wanted artifacts. And we wanted artifacts that resonated all kind of things. We wanted something that resonated military and nobody had it. They had the address of his son. Oh, yeah. My wife is in the audience. She knows the story. Charles hamilton houstons son who just pass aed away last year. He gave me that picture and the pistol. Ill tell the story. I think rex knows about this. I got in my car and i drove up to baltimore to the address. The i knocked i had my smithsonian badge in my hand. I nabbinged on tknocked on the stepped back. Had is wife came to the door and said ill make a long story short. I announced who i am. I work for the smithsonian. Are you Charles Hamilton houstons son and daughterinlaw . Make a long story short, i visited with them twice and you talk to people and you make a connection. They had nothing to give. We dont know. The second visit after they called me, they said, you no kn what . Charles has been keeping his fathers revolver from world war i. Come on, man. I said, you have to be kidding me . Right . Make a long story short, go back up there. I collecteds6n÷ the pistol. They pulled out that image. I had never seen that image before. The reason we know who the individuals are, they had it written on the back. Thats his father. He was in the odd fellows. Yes. Right. So they gave us four objects. There are stories like that for just about all of the objects that are in the exhibition that we own, people donated those to us. And they did not want to give that up because they didnt want his father to be seen as a mill tanlt wi militant with a weapon. Because of this museum, thats one thing this museum is doing. It is convincing people to give up artifacts that theyve had for years tucked away somewhere. So i remember getting that. A lot of trust, man. Yeah. And i wrapped it up, put it in my car. They live in baltimore. I drove out of baltimore and it will be in the exhibition and it now belongs to the National Museum of africanAmerican History and culture. Please. No question. You know what . His granddaughter, i think is a law student. Charles hamilton houstons granddaughter is a student at howard law school. Thats right. Yeah. No question. We keeping it tight. Yeah. We return fighting. We make a connection with the family and just talking to them. You still talk to these individuals. Yeah. So lets continue in that vain then. Houston who is clearly got a vision and like you said, what he saw in war kind of empowered him to keep going and trouble the his spirit. Right. There are differences between black people participating in this war. I remember reading about the cats that came from nashville got beef from the guys from philadelphia who came and said were not taking this stuff. Can you talk youre right. I know its in the exhibition. But we put it in there. Zeroing in on the differences between black folks, could you talk about the 369th . You wrote another inset and what happened in South Carolina . You got cast with noble and the southeastern white dudes really want to hold racial order. But these are not negro thats are used to just being theyve never been monolithic and theyre not the same depending on what region of the country youre from. So when the 369th would are new york city boys but not all are new york city boys. 369th recruited from all over the north. There were a few individuals from the south. But where were they sent to train . In South Carolina. And so there was a clash. White southern status quo in South Carolina and then you have these northern africanamericans coming down to train, they were supposed to be there for three, four, five months. They only stayed 4 1 2 weeks. What happened . They had to get them out. No question. There was going to be a clash. This is september, october. The reason is this is september, october of i think john writes about this in the book and its in the exhibition. Septemberoctober of 1917 is only three months after brownsville and after east st. Louis. So one thing we always do is you have to put it in the context. Absolutely. So they did not want another brownsville where the 24th did actually shoot up the town. Unlike the 25th. What happened in brownsville . Brownsville, you know, there were two eyesores. Fwh one in 1906 with the 25th. I get them mixed up sometimes. The accusations were not true and president roosevelt discharged soldiers for something unfounded and i has never been proved. However, in houston, when a white plouolice officer began t beat a black woman when he was looking for a soldiers, those brother dz shoot up the town. After three courtmartials, 19 were sent to the gallows and well talk about them in the exhibition. I know we cant offer everything. Thats why they left South Carolina and thats one of the reasons they were the first africanamerican unit in france because instead of sending this em to retrain, they sent them to the point and they arrived in france on new years day. Because the rest of the 93rd division, they were never together. They did not arrive until april. Thats one of the main reasons why the 369th was the first unit. Im going to ask about women in this larger concept. Before we do, lets now the brothers are in. Its no the just brothers. Of course, the ymca is involved. Well talk about that. We have an entire section and women are we throughout. Lets do that. Then well end with the global scope. So talk about the women. It was a chapter did you in here on gold star mothers. Yes. I had never seen that anywhere else. She is one of our scholars. She is a senior military curator of Tennessee State museum of history. And so she writes about the gold star mother. So gold star mothers were africanamerican. Well, they were mothers who lost a son during world war i. So white and black. And they had the pilgrimages that went to france, three of them, in 30, 31, 32. Make a long story short, they were also segregated. And so there was, you know, discussion our sons and husbands fought in a segregated military and we are going to visit their grave sites 12 years later in segregated pilgrimages. But also Brittany Cooper writes about ida b. Wells and Mary Church Terrell and the juxtaposition of those individuals. That goes to the fact that africanamericans were never monolithic. And we have a. Philip randolph, the means were the same. Better lives for africanamericans. Just like ida b. Wells and Mary Church Terrell. Ida b. Wells was a fire breather and would punch you in the nose. Literally. And mary was a dignified agitator. She says that in her book. And she just kind of believed and, you know, doing things in a dignified manner. But the end state was the same. And thats throughout. Thats why we chose people for who they are and not only africanamericans, i mean, we talk about, you know, we always say africanamericans and their white supporters. Youll see stories about white americans in this exhibition just like you see throughout the museum that are friends of the forward progress of africanamericans. So were going to open it up if folks want to start moving to the micro phones. Like i said, we just scratched the surface. Everybody is in here from Josephine Baker and louie armstrong. I mean it really is a remarkable moment. As folks are moving towards the micro phones to make comments and questions, maybe ill ask this final question. What dent touwe didnt touch on global scope of how africanamericans came to know each other. When they get off troop transport and the women go to do support, they meet black people from other places. Ill keep this quick. Yes, a part of this being a global war is africanamericans although they entered the war with white americans in 1917 and made it to france in 1918, when the world went what war because this was a period of imperialism, france had at least 17 colonies that went to war when they went to war. The british had colonies in the east indies and the caribbean and all over the world. The when they went to war, guess who else went to war . Their colonial soldiers went to war. And germany had four colonies. When they went to war, the four germanys went four german colonies went to war. You have people of african dissent fighting in it world war i beginning in 1914 and they do meet each other. The this is one of our artifacts were getting from france. All the africans from different places in the different world. Caribbean africa. This negro has a fade just like me. I dont even know these black people. You cant go back to columbus, georgia, the same way. No question about it. Is that whit back there . How you doing . Please. I think we have excuse me, gentlemen. Before you go totally rogue, im going to do one thing. Were going no thank these gentlemen and then go into the q a. I appreciate you. Thank you. I want everyone to encourage us to step up to the microphone. So, john . Yes. Wonderful session, thank you. How are you . Very well, thank you. Id bepleased if you could talk about the challenge of creating this exhibition because so much of this is information is not in u. S. Archives. Those fighting are fighting under the french flag. Therefore, the whole process is working with the French Military archives. Can you share some of that story with us . Very quickly. I guess a challenge was to present to a body of my colleagues that the information was there because i had been studying it for a long time. And so i started studying military history in 1991, africanAmerican History in 1993. I had done interviews with individuals. I had heard stories from individuals. And i knew about footage that existed. So i just think one of the challenges was just to make sure that my passion and what i knew was coming across to the effect of yes, we can do an exhibition. I see my old boss sitting in the front row. He was my biggest supporter at the beginning, making sure that okay, if you know all this information, you know, make sure we can share it and package it in a fashion that we can, you know, share it with the public. And so a lot of these documents are also buried in the french archives. Rex was with me on one of the trips. We went into a french archive and had people translating information. So the challenge is just making sure that the information comes out. AfricanAmerican History was i think i write it in this book. I heard the storey. Africanamericans were challenged to suppress the fact that they served in world war i because soldiers were being attacked. And so a lot of this history was just buried and not talked about. But it exists. And people have it like Charles Hamilton houstons family like a shoe box in a basement. I hope i answered your question in some way. Can i actually ask greg carr a question, too . As a professor who deals every day with younger minds, and as you approach African Studies at large, where does scholarship like that of the contributors to this book fit in with what you are trying to convey and stir up in these young intellects . Ill say this. Ill say this. Very basic we talked about this a little bit and talking about it a minute ago, colonel. I think museums are the future of this work in a lot of ways. The universities k12, were in the classroom and online platforms, but this work allows access to people of all walks of life. And so when you come in and deal with an artifact, when you deal with a narrative, we can linger. And particularly here. I mean, the casket down stairs, for example, but realizing his father is buried in a French Cemetery and then tying that through this exhibit, its almost more powerful to bring students into this building and sit and linger through the exhibits than it is to sit in a classroom somewhere else and talk through it. There is more you can do in 30 minutes of coming to we return fighting, i think. And this is from somebody that is a feen for lewis armstrong. But armstrong, the master of modernism emerges in this moment of a new worldcoming o coming o world war i. You can say lets have this conversation. I think museums really are the future of how we gobegin to narrate who we are in the world. This is one of the most important places i can think of in the world to have this conversation. Thank you. We go to the next question. Yes, please . Yes. A couple of quick questions. Just a follow up of what john mentioned. Black troops, i dont understand why heres a man that is john j. Persian. Heres a man who served with black troops at spanish american war. But, yet, he was willing to transfer all the black combat troops to france to the french. Id like to know if there is a back story to that. My second question is the units that they were transferred to, if im not mistaken, they also were the units that the french used to consolidate their colonial troops. I just want to verify that. My third question, and ill get out of here, is that as i understand emma j. Scott hes in here. There are so many people. Yeah. We talked about him in the exhibition. Right. He wrote a book the American Negro in the world war. In terms of the sterknowledge, was a very conservative guy relative to dubois documentation and ill be quiet. Ill take the first question first about the 369th and actually the 93rd division. To set the record straight, there were two black divisions in world war i, africanamerican. 92nd and 93rd. The 93rd division of four rej ments is a division that went to the french. There was a complete regiment that stayed with the u. S. Not all of the black combat troops went to the french. And john j. Persian did have a history, he got the nickname black jack. There are all kinds of stories of term of endear mentment. It was a slap in the face and we went get into that. I read about this dichotomy that john j. Pershiing was pulled in many different directions. American soldiers would not fight under the french. So why did we give an entire africanamerican division to the french . Theres with a political juxtaposition. There was a social juxtaposition from a lot of the white officers on his staff that were serving in his unit that did not want africanamerican soldiers to fight alongside white soldiers. When you say he gave this division to the french, he does bear responsibility because he was in command. Thats the way military officers are trained. He has the ultimate responsibility. But he was tugged from the top to the side and bottom and french were clambering that you said that you were going to put men on the battlefield. In this gallery we say that john j. Pershing made the ultimate decision. The but theres an entire book that talks about just what i said about why he made that decision. Yes. Emmitt scotts book. And to get back to johns question. Emmitt scott, kelly miller, there were a host of africanamericans who wrote about their experience in world war i but the books never got published. I read most of those over the years being an africanamerican military historian. I began to combine those in 1996. And thats where the information exists. Exists in libraries, in the library of congress, in archives collecting dust because no one was reading it. And what really catapulted people to start studying africanAmerican History in the military was glory. When glory came out. Thats the turning point. Interesting. Because before glory, there were only a few books arms is one of them. George washington williams. That was written in the 1880s. One one of the books collecting dust. No question. Its always been there but people have if thats not what you were looking for, you wrn t werent finding it. Glory is the turning point. People realized they did fight. And then thats a generalization. I was going to say, thats one of the great strengths of the work that he has brought to us in his role as a guest curator. He is uncovering things that we did not know. Kind of like the work you do at howard, professor carr. Some things are hiding in plain sight. What im going to do is ask if it we can take the next two questioners in a row. And then ask the questions be addressed so we can make sure that we have time for additional discussion. We have a little an additional treat. Nothing is more of a treat than this we have an additional treat before we leave. We have something the young people tell me is called a sizzle reel. Whatever that is. I thought we were going to sizzler. I didnt know what that meant. Yes, maam. Hi. Im a freshman at Howard University. When talking about this idea of like meaning making or values that the soldiers learn during this time, how would you say that have been pass down to this current generation or the modern black identity. So what do you think are some examples of the values or how can we see the flash of the spirit in present day in not only the black community and the United States but kind of around the world . You heard that. Yes, sir. Id like to take a course from you after i take one from dr. Carr, maam. My goodness. And okay, meaning making. In one second, gentlemen, yes, sir . Yes. My name is robert harris. Im professor from Cornell University and id like to say on emmitt scotts book, i also thought of emmitt scott as being very conservative. He doesnt pull any punches in his study of black soldiers in world war i. Thats right. Two questions. Number one, i wish you would speak a little bit about the military directive that the United States army circulated during world war i cautioning especially the french from fraternizing with africanamerican soldiers. Talk about that. Secondly, what do you mean by modern black identity . You did speak a little bit about the new negro movement. Could you expand a little bit about modern black identity . Okay. And just think, we have all five minutes. That should be a piece of cake for these two gentlemen. Do you want to do meaning making or identity first . Ill do them in five minutes. Stay informed. And speak out. Thats what a. Philip randolph and dubois was doing in different ways. I always say this a. Philip randolph is 28 years old when he stepped on to the stage and challenged a sitting president. He was also the guy that planned the first march on washington as a lot of you no he in 1940. Did not have to do that march because he got what he wanted. If if you look at the picture of 1963, april 28, who is sitting there . A. Philip randolph. Thats right. What i will say to young individuals today is take some of the lessons from a. Philip randolph and Josephine Baker and do it your own way and are informed and get the message out there. To go to the question about emmitt scott and it was also about the secret documents. So very briefly. We talk about the secret document in the gallery upstairs. There was a circulation which informed the french that we dont socialize and treat africanamericans in america the way you are treating them here. And so it was a long letter. Im not going to go into detail. Thats the gist of it. And so that letter was quickly recinded. It did come out of pershings headquarters. It was written by a french colonel that was directed to write it. That is partly why dubois wrote we return fighting. He uncovered that document during his three month tour and thats why its printed in the crisis magazine in 1919. Indeed. Very briefly. A little word from one of our local interlellectuals. A little more to add to the brilliance of dr. Salter. Dr. Carr, a little bit about that because you read this wonderful book that this gentleman was so involved in. Tell us a little bit about that context in shaping of identity. Very specifically, we can talk about emmitt scott. Washington dies in 1915. Emmitt scott was in many ways washingtons hatchet man. Yeah. Hes out of a job. He ends up at howard. Will kelly miller is at howard. They write two of the world war i books. But when he raises that, scott doesnt go to france. These are people frying to figure out yes. Scott goes to france and theyre like, look, man, i dont know why they sent you here to calm us down. The soldiers are not coming when the president went and he told africanamerican soldiers calm down. Dont rock the boat. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And, of course, dubois comes back and rocks the boat. He changes. The only reason i mention this is because as you say, the intellectuals of that period, then and now, the best thinkers are the ones that republican gauged thinkers. Randolph is on the sidelines. When he does call up that march, you know, theyre like wait a minute, hold on. Yeah, thats not the only reason we were coming to d. C. They have a three Day Conference at howard on these black women are like, wait a minute. Were nost jut just coming to integrate the military jobsst were talking about what our race needs. These thinkers are not just writing. Theyre in the middle of the fight. And so we didnt even get to James Johnson because when they come back, red summer in 1919, as you say, is part of that and we talk about the same man who wrote the socalled black National Anthem or lift their voice and sing, sing, one is t the other is on ten pan alley. So there are a venue of thinkers, the 369 band. Dont think of intellectuals as arm chair people writing research. They are thinkers who are engaged and that is the best way to be a thinking. One more question about modern identity. Yes, please. What we mean by that and in the opening where he said something about the four runners of the Civil Rights Movement, i firmly believe that the world war ii generation who executed the Civil Rights Movement, they were the germination of the seeds that were planted by the world war i generation, that new negro they stirred the pot and planted the seeds and said we fought for this country and we want our equality. That stayed and the reason we picked some individuals, jove fiend baker was the oath woman who spoke in 1963 and William Randolph was there and Mary Church Terrell, do not pass until 1952, 53, 54 and those individuals played a critical part in world war ii and set the stage for the modern Civil Rights Movement, that is what we mean. You talk about morris garvey and blaze the anticolonial movement. We talk about pan africaism. It is the book. Yes. We also would like you to, as they say, buy this week and read more about the great writing of our colleague dr. Salter and repeating the names he mentioned, Lisa Boudreau, Brittany Cooper, john h. Morrow jr. , krewasky, and jay winter and curtis young and i have very little time on the stage so i can no give out a shotout to but if i had time i would. But lets do one very important thing i see a young woman in uniform and reminds me something that i was reminded by a dear colleague, could i ask all active duty and members of the military that have made the sacrifice for this country to stand. You could stand too, colonel. Oh, me. Okay. Could you please stand. [ applause ] bless you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. People say almost as a throw away thank you for your service but we really mean it. Thank you for your service. Well you stood up so i cant deny you. I cant deny you, maam. Thank you. You gentlemen have done an excellent job, colonel. Yes. Rabbi, i submit you. What would you say are the key elements for us to galvanize the military to go forward because the military is always been a precursor of what happens true that. So my grandma would say the more things change the more they stay the same so the struggle, were still fighting as a colonel in the United States army, the minority officers both male and female, they are yes. Wow and what existed during the Civil Rights Era where we were a community and interlaced and invested in each others future and my future is tied with hers, my neighborhood to the right now will get richer and were moving out of communities and for getting where we came from and some not reaching back, were engaging in frat risize as opposed to supporting each other. Were tearing each other down with jealousy and pettiness, what would you say are the top three factors. Three . Ill get to you later. Im also the Vice President of communications for the roxy corporation which is a Mentorship Organization for africanamerican officers. Yep, i know. Because what you tell me im going to print and put it on record. So no pressure, in other words. Im a reticent person. Top three in terms of how we help each other and reclaim our legacy of helping each other and building each other up. Yes, maam. You got your three, brother . Okay well active duty will listen to you. Ill address the one related to the military but i served for 25 years so i know exactly what youre saying. So briefly, a couple of years ago i ran into an africanamerican general officer and i mentioned to him, who is the pipeline. Oh, it is going to be fine. Theyre until the pipeline. I know theyre not in the pipeline because i was studying. So what we have to do is as community and this is a tough sell, this is a tough sell, we have got to let our Young Brothers and sisters know that the military is a viable occupation. When i was at west point for three years i was a recruiter. I recruited africanamericans to come to west point to go into the military. It is a tough sell. But we have got to let our Young Brothers and sisters know that when you go into the military, you are not just going to fight for your country and be used and abused. The reason i have masters and a ph. D is because i was in the military. I was a young lieutenant who was selected, i received a letter that said because your academic background and military success you are a candidate to teach at the United States military academy. I followed through with that. I was on a fiveyear program. For five years i got paid to be a student for two years and an instructor for three years. I had a professor who luckily told me about this thing called a. B. D. , all but dissertation and i took all of my classes while teaching at west point and there are a host of men and women, white, brown, black, who have retired from the military and have a second profession because the military created a platform. So it is not just what you see on tv. And i tell people, i love boys in the hood but i was a Second Lieutenant when Laurence Fishburn told gooding jr. Gooding jr. , the army is no place for a brother. I just joined the military. The military is a place for a brother and sister. And it is a hard sell. So ill just take one. What is not a hard sell is this great book. No, that is real. Were going to be selling this out to heritage hall. And as we thank these gentlemen one more time, keith, can we pull up the wheel. Thank you, gentlemen. God bless you. Here is what is head on American History tv. Next, from the smithsonian National Museum of africanamerican museum and culture we talk with guest curator Krewasky Salter about the exhibit we return fighting, the africanamerican experience in world war i. Then an hour from now more from our series reel america with a 1944 film entitled the negro soldier. In an hour and 45 minutes from our lectures in history series, say look at neutrality during world war i in america and in two hours and 50 minutes a discussion about world war i, africanamericans and civil rights. Cspan has unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the Supreme Court and Public Policy events. From the president ial primaries through the impeachment process, and now the federal response to the coronavirus. You could watch all of cspan Public Affairs programming on television, online, or listen on our free radio app and be part of the National Conversation through cspan daily Washington Journal Program or through our social media feeds. Cspan, created by the American Public television and brought to you today by your television provider. Up next, we visit the Smithsonian Museum of africanAmerican History and culture in washington, d. C. , military history guest curator Krewasky Salter joined us from the exhibit from world war i. This is about an hour. We take you now inside of the Smithsonian Museum of africanAmerican History and culture. To one of the museums temporary exhibits titled we return fighting, the africanamerican experience in world war i, Krewasky Salter is a guest curator with the exhibit. Colonel salter, first explain the meaning behind that exhibit