Good evening. First of all, thank you, all, for coming out on this rainy evening. I know its a little bit of a channel. I think its going to be well worth 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 world war i and the shaping of the modern black identity. Published by smithsonian books, we return fighting is a collection of essays that chronicle the experiences of men and women who serve 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 decades away, world war i established important questions of citizenship that paied the way toward future progress. We are fortunate to be joined tonight by uty director and editor of we return fighting which includes outstanding scholarship and images and the images are really very powerful of americans at war and on the home front. It also gives us different look at the life that africanamericans faced when they came back home after the war. So let me end by welcoming you and ensuring you that youre in for a wonderful evening. Thank you for joining us. Im sure youll have a great evening. [ applause ] ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the Deputy Director of the National Museum of africanAmerican History and cultu culture. [ applause ] 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 becaus really if i had time i would mention names like carol ann gleason, christina wiggington, rex ellis and others, but i dont have time, laura coil and doug remley, and Carlos Melinda logan and many others. If you look if the back their names are all there. And 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. Its 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. And id like to quote from his epilogue to frame a little bit about what youre going to hear tonight from these amazing gentlemen, Krewasky Salter and greg carr. 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 echoes were heard in president harry s. Trumans 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 of enfranchisement for africanamericans, it could be said that its sheer 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 fore bearers sacrifices in world war i and all the wars that have followed have not been forgotten. And they remain incontin controvertible proof of entitlement of our rights as citizens of our own current. The great w. E. B. Dubois who framed the issues around world war i 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 jehovah we will save it in the United States of america, or know the reason why. The two gentlemen you will hear tonight talking of this book, which is a companion to an exhibition of almost the same title, that will debut in december, will help us unpack those complexities. And that sentiment. Tonight you will hear from dr. Krewasky salter, who is our guest associate curator for the exhibition we return fighting and a major contributor to this publication. And he is also the executive director of the First Division museum. Dr. Greg carr, associate professor of Africana Studies and chair of the department of aft and adjunct 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 postcivil war expectations of full citizenship upon returning home. This book reveals the many ways world war i shaped the identity of black people, and lent fuel to their long standing 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 ph. D. S in their respective subjects but they have spoken widely, and traveled 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, 1861 to 1948. 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 beria, ghana, egypt and his publications have appeared in among other places the africanamerican studies reader, socialism and democracy, Africana 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 you stream, and we ask that all of you consider social media, anationsstory. And this is and i have one other person i dont have time enough to recognize. But if shes here i would like to recognize her. Julie lasalle, who is the cultur cultural attache to the French Ministry were it not for them which was headed by joseph zemett we would not have the wonderful objects you will see in the exhibition that opens in december. And mr. Zemett and madam lasalle helped open the door of french museums throughout that country for loans and important objects. And their also are a series of donors who were able to help us as well. We are grateful to all of them. And one more thing i want to say, so that minda will not think that i dont know my job. This program is made possible through the support of the charina foundation, which this 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 in partnership w the. Ladies and gentlemen, please first of all, thank you for being here. And join me in welcoming dr. Krewasky salter and dr. Greg carr. [ applause ] colonel. Doctor, hows it going. Appreciate you, brother. Hows everybody doing . Well, first order of business, i guess, for us to do is to say welcome, of course. We heard from our Deputy Director conwell and director crew 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 open. Youve curated. This is the third exhibit in that i curated . In terms of the exhibits that have rotated through. This is the third exhibition that well rotate through, the temporary exhibition space. Excellent, okay, well lets get right to it. First of all, this is an incredibly conceived book. If youve already bought it, great, if not, 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. Thank you. So much. Good. See, mine aint got no brains yours doesnt have a label on it. Mine has a label, yes. This text, we return fighting, how did you conceive this book . How did you put it together . How did you structure the text . Well, 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 kinsasha on a regular basis and we were talking about the story. And kinsasha plays poker very well. I was talking to her and she was taking everything in. 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 kinsasha likes what youre saying, i dont know what youre saying when you meet with her, but she likes what youre saying. I realized she might play poker but now i know shes listening. Next time i met with her, she said not only should we do an exhibition, i think we can do a book. And so the book was actually born when i had my one on one meetings sitting down with kinsasha, and from that point on not only we were executing an exhibition we started developing the 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 that this book is c conceived, youre taking some events were aware of but youre reading them 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 to this distinct way of not only talking about africanAmerican History but the lens of history through world war i. We had scholarly advisers for the exhibition. So we decided who were going to be the individuals to write for the book. It was very easy. We selected all of the scholarly advisers who were working on the exhibition. What the scholarly advisers are, those are the people that bring the curators down to earth. You pick big brain people and you send your script to them and they help you make sure you get your interpretations right. We selected all of the scholars for the exhibition. But one thing we had did with the exhibition was to make sure that we did not 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, a Professor Emeritus of Yale University who now lives in france. And so his chapter is the first chapter. And so it helps us understand why world war i. He goes in detail in a very few pages on how world war i became a global war in a page and a half. Then he talks about the stalemate, 1916, on into the war. And that is the first chapter that sets the stage. It was my mission in chapter 2 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 america was for black americans. When you read chapter 2 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, plessy 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 who says in 1895 he estimates by that time over 53,000 africanamericans had been killed. And we talk about mob violence. And so we talk about those while at the same time africanamericans are serving in the military. So that was my mission in chapter 2. And also to talk about service of africanamericans in world war i. Chapter 3 was written by another one of our scholars, dr. John morrow, who is the John Hope Franklin professor of history and chair at the university of georgia. And it was his mission to create a tight shot group, im a soldier, so some of you know shot group is you want to hit that target. A tight shot group between 1913 and 1919. So he went a little further in detail in the service of africanamericans. But what he also brought to the table is his an imperialist researcher and writer. This is the time during imperialism. 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, absolutely. Well talk about that later on. 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 are still having these types of incidences going on. That was jay morrows piece. Then we had ten profiles. And so three of our other scholars, chad williams, lisa budreau and curtis young, they write profiles. Then we picked up another scholar, Brittany Cooper. My former student from howard. Its powerful. She writes a piece on truro and ida b. Wells. H when you read the book we have a beautiful timeline, bill pritser, one of our research assistants, alicia norwood, it goes from 1863 to 1963. And it weaves in the social, cultural, economic and military service all in that timeline. We have more than 140 captions of some of the artifacts and the images. And our Exhibition Research assistant patrie holguin, she wrote after and i wrote the other laugh. Thats how the book is laid out. Im going to ask about the distinction, whats in the exhibition that may not be in the book and vice versa. Before we get there, the exhibit opens next month. 13 december. Im looking at my project manager. Hes here too, carlos bustamante. Make sure were all on task. Its interesting, thinking about one of your heroes, of course, who and by the way, were going to talk for a while and well open it up. Folks, think about things you may want to ask and comment on. One of your heroes is colonel Charles Young. Absolutely. And i think it was, according to judge Robert Wilkins in his book long road, hard truth, it was 100 years ago this december that young gives a talk because the veterans have come back and they want a negro memorial, civil war veterans, we want a museum, we want a memorial. Supposed to be near howard, that would have been great. Cant afford the buy the property now. Then we have this, were good. The world war i veterans come back and said we want a memorial. Charles young gives a talk where he says, you know, it would be nice to have a building and brass and monuments. But perhaps the real monument would be to give these soldiers the thing they went abroad to fight for. Absolutely. The rights. Stop lynching people, all this stuff. I say that because im thinking about the theme that you really put together, not only in your essay, but as the spine of this book, that echoes what you did in the first major publication for the museum when you talk about this double victory. You take it backward in time. We talk about in double v in world war ii but you conceptualize it. Thinking about world war i and how people of african descent enter that war, not just from the United States but from around the world. This concept of double victory. And, you know, like i say, as a career military man, has risen to the highest ranks, as a scholar, and 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 pull out an essay in your earlier book, that probably more black people fought for the british than the americans. In the american revolution. Double victory, why was world war i important, the essence of double victory is 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. So when you go back to the american revolution, estimated number of 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. So thats what double victory is. When you bring that forward to world war i, you know, setting the stage, africanamericans had always been there, 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. And 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 the red summer erupted. And that is kind of what Charles Young was talking about. These soldiers of africanamerican descent 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. 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. He was aggressive, he was the one that was emboldened after fighting on the battlefield, and his family members and friends were also emboldened to make sure that what we went to fight for, to make the world safe for democracy, was also going to make america safe for democracy. Thats why we have the quote with a. Phillip randolph. Listen, man. Yea was a metaphor for america. He said i would rather make georgia safe for democracy when the president said make the world safe for democracy, a. Phillip randolph said i would rather make georgia safe for the negro, and georgia was a metaphor for america. We were talking about that backstage. A. Phillip randolph said it im sorry, jay edgar hoover, fresh out of law school, said ai Phillip Randolph was the most dangerous negro in america, an open socialist. Thats interesting. Because hes, in part, we were just saying in terms of the title you picked, and also whats in the exhibit, thats not in here, and vice versa, we can get the housekeeping. I do want to ask you, relative to we return fighting, thats a quote from dubois. Yes. But randolph, which i think they do brilliantly in this book, randolph was distinguishing himself from dubois. Yes. And even as you narrate here, these conservative blacks, a lot of us and a lot of howard students are out here tonight, they came to see you, brother, elaine lock is credited. He was in douglas hall. I was professor of military science. Yes, indeed. Howard is like atlanta. Everybody knows somebody that goes to howard or worked there, Everybody Knows somebody in atlanta. Randolph is critical of not only dubois but elaine lock, some of these conservative folks and dubois himself, this is not the first editorial he writes relative to the war. Right. 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, but this broader concept . I mean, dubois is balancing something. The first one, youre exactly right. A. Phillip randolph and w. E. B. Duhbois, who was in his mid40s in 1917. Randolph was 28 years old. And dubois was lumped in the old crowd negro, these youngsters, if you will, in that time were labeling those individuals the old crowd negroes, those who would say close ranks and go fight which is what dubois said in his close ranks article in 1918. But the sentiment had already been there from 15, 16 and 17. He was writing about the war in 1914. The 1915 article was until the atlantic monthly. He did a trip to france for three months after a war and he was disturbed with what he found. Because he was the intellectual that mainly convinced africanamericans to close ranks and go to war. And he did a research. And he found out about all the discrimination and some africanamericans who had lost their lives on the battlefield, and some who lost their lives not on the battlefield. And so he came back, and in may of 1919, thats when he wrote a juxtaposition of close ranks, and said we would 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 left. The reason we termed this we return fighting because the centennial of world war i is really over. But this year is the centennial of the new negro. Thats why the exhibition is entitled we return fighting. One of the questions you may have been asking is, one word you dont see in the exhibition title nor in the book. You dont see military. The exhibition is not entitled the africanamerican military experience in world war i. And the book is not entitled world war i and the military shaping and black identity. You 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. And they wanted to make sure that they reaped all the benefits. So the exhibition is not late. Its on time. We always intended for it to open in 1919 because this is the centennial of the new negro. One more housekeeping piece. When folks go through the exhibit theyre going to see some remarkable things. We were talking backstage about Charles Young stuart, so many other things. In this book, when you start reading this book, whats in here thats not in the exhibit, and vice versa . Awful lot in both. Okay, so number one, whats in the exhibition thats not in the book are the live artifacts that you can really see up close. Absolutely. 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 differences between the 92nd and the 93rd division and why the 93rd division and the 369th, and not only the 369th, the 370th, the 371st and the 372nd was so important. You have that in the book. And the exhibition, we also have just a few additional vignettes. But one thing i like to say is the big difference between the exhibition and the book is they both have a shelf life. But the exhibitions shelf life will end on 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 it is. Because i dont know if its for public consumption. Got to come back. But the book will be there forever. Yes, sir. Now were going to shift and maybe talk about and believe me, every page in this book, every paragraph could open up into a whole oh, yes. For me, im reading this like wow, so theres any number of places we can go. Certainly want to talk about the role of the women. And theres so many different ones. We can start with these heroic figures. But thinking about 1915. Booker t. Washington died in 1915. Birth of a nation comes out in 1915. Woodrow wilson is curated and narrated in here. Lets pick a figure that helps us work around to some of the other conversations. Were in d. C. Charles hamilton houston. Lets talk about charlie houston, whos known for training the people who killed jim crow as a lawyer but this dude was one of the highest ranking officers in world war i. He was a lieutenant. Thats not i see soldiers and sailors, thats not very high, but for an africanamerican in that time. Thats what i meant. He was a lieutenant. I ask people all the time do you know who Charles Hamilton houston is, and what is he important for and 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 fort des moines, earned an officership, and served as a lieutenant overseas and fought in france in the 368th infant infantry regiment of the 92nd division. 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 wanted him to be a lawyer and was a lawyer himself. They worked together. You have a picture of Charles Hamilton houstons father. Ill talk about in a second. Charles hamilton houston, thats where he got his foundation to be a lawyer. His experience. Lets talk about so when you open the book, i collected those. The reason we have that picture is, it was a story, we knew where his typewriter was. His typewriter is the National Museum of africanAmerican History and culture. We wanted artifacts and we wanted artifacts that resonated all kind of things but we wanted something that resonated perhaps military. And nobody had it. They had the address of his son. Oh, yeah. My wife is in the audience. I have to be careful but she knows the story. Charles hamilton houstons son. Who just passed away last year, he gave me that picture and that pistol. Ill tell the story. Wow. And i think rex knows about this. I got in my car and i drove up to baltimore. To the address. And knocked. I had my smithsonian badge in my hand. I knocked on the door. I got off the stairs and i stepped back and i was going like this. His wife came to the door. So to make a long story short i announced who i was. Im Krewasky Salter, i work for the smithsonian. Are you charles hamillsons son and daughterinlaw. 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 know what, charles had been keeping his fathers revolver from world war i. Come on, man. And i said youve got to be kidding me. Right, right. Make a long story short, go back up there, i collected the pistol. They pulled out that image. I had never seen that image before. The reason we know who all those individuals are, they had it meticulously written on the back. Thats his father. He was in the odd fellows. 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 did not want his father to be seen as a militant with a weapon. Thats what they told me. Really . But they said because of this museum and thats one thing that 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. Thats a lot of trust, man. And i wrapped it up. Drove out of baltimore, got it there and its going to be in the exhibition and it belongs to the National Museum of American History and culture. In fact please, no question, thank you. [ applause ] you know what . His granddaughter i think is a student, Charles Hamilton houstons granddaughter or great granddaughter is a student at howard law school. Yeah, no question. Were keeping it tight. Yeah. We return fighting. Making the connection with the family and talking to them. You still talk to these individuals. Yeah. So lets continue in that vain. Houston whos clearly got a vision and what he saw in war kind of empowered him to keep going and troubled his spirit. Right. There are differences between black people who participate in this war. Yeah. I remember reading about these cats that came my homeys from nashville got beef from these young guys from philadelphia, saying were not taking this stuff. Is that in this book . Yeah, its in here. I know its in the exhibition. We put it in there. Zeroing in on the differences between black folks. Talk about the 369th. What happened in South Carolina, youve got cats like with noble sissle and these southern white dudes really want a whole racial order but these are not negroes used to just being. Africanamericans have never been monolithic, and they are not the same depending what region of the country you were from. The 369th, new york city boys, but not all of them, the 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. The 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 four and a half weeks. What happened . They had to get them out. No question. There was going to be a clash. We killing enemies right here. This is in september, october. The reason is, this is september, october of and i think well, john writes about this in the book. Its in the exhibition. September, october of 1917 is only three months after brownsville, and after east st. Louis. You have to put it into context. Absolutely. They did not want another brownsville where the 24th did actually shoot up the town. Unlike the 25th what happened in brownsville . Brownsville, there were two eye sores, one in 1906 with the 25th, i get them mixed up sometimes. Where the accusations were not true, and president roosevelt discharged 167 soldiers for something that was unfounded and it has never been proved. However, in houston, when a white Police Officer began to beat a black woman when he was looking for a soldier, those brothers did go out and shoot up the town. Hey, man. And to make a long story short after three courtmartials 19 of them were sent to the gallows. We cant cover everything. But so folks know thats why they left South Carolina and thats one of the reasons they were the first africanamerican unit in france because instead of sending them to retrain, they send them to the demarcation point and they arrived in france on new years day. The rest of the division did not arrive until april. One of the main reasons why they were the first. Im going to ask about women. But before we do, lets at least now the brothers are in, not just brothers, of course the ymca are involved. We talk about that. We have thank you. An entire section on women weaved throughout. Lets do that. There was a chapter you did in here on gold star mothers. She is one of our scholars and she is a senior military curator, Tennessee State museum of history. And so she writes about the gold star mothers. Gold star mothers were africanamerican well, they were mothers who lost a son during world war i. And so white and black. And they had these pilgrimages that went to france, three of them in 30, 31 and 32, or until 33. Make a long story short they were also segregated. 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. Lisa writes about that, Brittany Cooper writes about ida b. Wells and mary church truro. Africanamericans have never been monolithic. Like dubois, and a. Phillip randolph, their means were the same. Better lives for africanamerican, just like ida b. Wells and mary truro, but they had different ways of doing it. Ida was a fire breather, she 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 in doing things in a dignified manner. Thats throughout the. We chose people for who they are and not only africanamericans, we talk about you know, we always say africanamericans and their white supporters. So you will see stories about white americans in this exhibition, just like you see throughout the museum who were friends and for the progress of africanamericans. Absolutely. So were going to open et al. Up. If folks want to start moving toward the microphones. We just scratched the surface. Everybody is in here from Josephine Baker, louie arm strong. Its a remarkable moment. As folks are moving toward the microphone, maybe ill ask this final question. What we didnt touch on yet is the global scope of how African People around the world came to know each other in this moment, when those brothers get off their troop transport, when these women are going to do support, they meet black people from other places. Ill keep this quick so we can open it up. 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 to 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 indie se. When they went to war, guess who else . Their colonial soldiers went to war. And germany had four colonies. When they went to war, those four german colonies went to war. Thats why you have people of african descent fighting in world war i beginning in 1914. And they do meet each other. On the battlefield. We can see this in real life. This is one of our artifacts were getting from france. All the africans from different places, the caribbean, africa. This negro got a fade just like me. I didnt 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, brother . Please. Yes, i think we got excuse me, gentlemen, before you go totally rogue. One thing. Were going to thank them, these gentlemen, and were going to go into a q a, ladies and gentlemen, please thank our speakers. [ applause ] and i want to encourage everyone to step up to the microphone and our wonderful timekeeper will let us know how to keep on time. So, john. Yes. Greg, krewasky, wonderful session, thank you. John, how are you . Very well, thank you. Id be pleased if you could talk about creating this exhibition because so much of this information is not in u. S. Archives, because under Woodrow Wilson those fighting are fighting under the french flag and therefore the whole process has been working with the French Military archives. Can you please share some of that story with us . Very quickly. I mean, i guess a challenge was to present to a body of my colleagues at 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. So 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 that, yes, we can do an exhibition. And i see my old boss sitting here in the front row, and i tell you 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. And rex was with me on one of the trips where we went into a french archive and we had people translating some information. So the challenges of just making sure that the information comes out and africanAmerican History had been buried i think i write it in this book where i heard the story where 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, in a shoe box in a basement. I hope i answered your question in some way. Can i actually ask greg carr a question too . Because, as a professor who deals every day with younger minds, and as you approach Africana Studies writ large, where does scholarship like that of krewasky and the contributors to this book fit in with what you are trying to convey and stir up in these young intellects . Well, ill say this, very basic weve talked about this a little bit. And we were talking about it a minute ago, colonel. I think museums are really the future of this work in a lot of ways, the universities, k12, were in the classroom, dining what we can, the online platforms, the digital platforms but this work allows access to people of all walks of life. So when you come in and deal with an artifact, deal with a narrative, we can linger and particularly here. I mean, the casket down stairs for example, realizing his father is buried in a French Cemetery in a segregated part of a French Cemetery, tying that through this exhibit, its almost more powerful to bring students into this building and sit and linger through these exhibits than it is to sit in a classroom somewhere else and talk through it. Theres more you can do in 30 minutes of coming through we return fighting, i think, and this is from somebody whos a fiend for lewis arm strong. But armstrong, the master of modernism, emerges in this moment of a new world coming out of world war i. And it will mean something more to go through this exhibit, and then go to the top floor and see Louis Armstrongs trumpet and say, lets sit here and have this conversation. I think museums really are the future of how we begin to narrate and think through critically who we are in the world. So this is one of the most important places i can think of really in the world for us to have that conversation and education. Thank you. Well go now to the next questioner, yes, please. Yes. A couple of quick questions. And just to follow up on what john mentioned. Persian and black troops, i dont understand why heres a man, thats john j. Pershing, he served with black troops in the spanishamerican war, but yet he was willing to transfer all the black combat troops to france, to the french. Id like to know if theres a back story to that. My second question is, as i understand it, those 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 wanted to verify that. My third question, and ill get out of here, is that as i understand it, emmett j. Scott, im surprised you guys didnt mention his name. Hes in here, theres so many people. We talk about him in the exhibition. Well, he wrote a book, the American Negro in the world war, in terms of his graphical documentation, how is that received, he was a very conservative guy, relative to duboiss documentation, and ill be quiet. Ill take the first question first about the 369th and actually the 93rd division. So to set the record straight there were two black divisions in world war i, africanamerican, the 92nd and the 93rd. The 93rd division of four regiments is a division that went to the french. There was a complete regiment that stayed with the u. S. So not all of the black combat troops went to the french. And john j. Pershing did have a history, thats where he got his nickname blackjack, and there are all kinds of stories, term of endearment was a slap in the face so we wont go into that, i read a book about this dichotomy about five or six years ago that john j. Pershing was pulled from many different directions. There was a policy in the u. S. Army that american soldiers would not fight under the french. So why did we give an entire africanamerican division to the french . Where there was 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. So when you say john j. Pershing 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 being tugged from the top, from the side and the bottom. And the french were clamoring that you said that you were going to put men on the battlefield. Its not a clean answer. On john j. Pershing, assigning the 93rd division. And we are very clear the way we choose our words in the gallery upstairs, and in this gallery. We say that john j. Pershing made the ultimate decision. But theres an entire book that talks about just what i said about why he made that decision. And emmett scotts book. To get back to the question, emmett scott, kelly miller, a host of africanamericans who wrote about their experience in world war i, but the books never got published. Ive read most of those over the years, being an africanamerican military historian. Military historian and africanamerican 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, sable arms. George washington williams. And George Washington williams written in the 1880s. It was one of the books collecting dust. No question. Its always been there but people were not just if thats not what you were looking for you werent finding it. And glory is the turning point. Thats when people realized, they did fight. We should mention thats one of the great strengths of the yes, i was going to say, thats one of the great strengths of the work that krewasky 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 we can take the next two questioners, in a row, and then ask that their questions be addressed so we can make sure we have time for additional discussion. We have a little an additional treat, because nothings 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 serena swain. Im a freshman at Howard University. When talking about this idea of like meaning making, or values that these soldiers learned during this time, how would you say, or like that have kind of been passed down to this current generation, or the modern black identity. So what do you think are some examples of these values or like how can we see like the flash of the spirit in present day, in not only the black community in the United States but kind of around the world. Thats the art historian. You heard thompson in there, didnt you . Yes, sir. Id like to take a course from you after i take one from dr. Carr, maam. My goodness, meaning making in one second, gentlemen, at the mic, yes, sir. My name is robert harris, Professor Emeritus from cornell university. And id like to say on emmett scotts book, i also thought of emmett scott as being very conservative but he doesnt pull any punches in his study of black soldiers in world war i. Two questions, number one, i wish youd 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. What do you mean by modern black identity. Could you expand on that . Just think, we have all of five minutes. This should be a piece of cake for these two gentlemen. Do you want to do meaning making or identity first . Well, ill do the three of them in five minutes. First of all, stay informed. And speak out. Because thats what a. Phillip randolph and w. E. B. D ubois were doing. A. Phillip randolph was 28 years old when he stepped onto the stage and challenged a sitting president. He was also the guy that planned a first march on washington in 1940. Did not have to do that march because he got what he wanted. 1963, the picture, april 28th, whos sitting there . A. Phillip randolph. So what i would say to young individuals today is to take some of those lessons from a. Phillip randolph and Josephine Baker and do it in your own way and make sure you are informed, and you get your message out there. To go to this question about emmett scott. It was also about the secret not fraternizing. We talk about the secret document in the military gallery upstairs. There was a circulation that informed the french that we dont socialize and treat africanamericans in america the way you are treating them here. It was a long letter. Im not going to go into detail. Thats the gist of it. And so that letter was quickly rescinded. It did come out of pershings he headquarters. It came from a french colonel, partly why dubois wrote we return fighting, he uncovered that document during his threemonth tour and thats why its printed in the crisis magazine in 1919. Indeed. Very briefly. A little word from one of our local intellectuals. I have no prejudice toward h. U. , and you know that i dont. But a little more to add to the brilliance of dr. Salter. Dr. Carr, a little bit about that intellectual because youve read this wonderful book that this gentleman is so involved in. Tell us about that intellectual content, in that shaping of identity. We can talk about emmett scott. Washington dies in 1915. Emmett scott was in many ways washingtons hatchet man. Hes out a of a job. He ends up at howard. Kelly millers at howard. They wrote two hes the historian for alpha for alpha. Look out. Doesnt scott go to france . These are sintellectuals scot goes to france. Those soldiers are like i dont know why they sent you over here to calm us down. These soldiers are not coming back to the United States. He told africanamerican sole skr gers, calm down, dont rock the boat, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, and of course dubois comes back and he rocks the boat. He changes from close the range ranks. The intellectuals of that period then and now, the best thinkers are the ones who are engaged thinkers. So randolph is not on the sidelines. You know, and then ultimately in world war ii he calls off that march, mary bethune, hold on, thats not the only reason we were coming, they have a threeday conference at howard. These black women are like wait a minute were not coming to integrate the military jobs were coming to talk about what our race needs. In conclusion, im saying these thinkers are not just writing, they are in the middle of the fight. So we didnt even get to james well don johnson. When they come back, red summer in 1919 is part of that, and we talk about the same man who wrote this socalled black national anthem, or lift up your voice and sing, he and his brother, these are ones a poet, the other one is on tin pan alley. Theres another venue of thinkers who are also artists. The intellectual milieu is important. Dont think of them as armchair people, they are thinkers who are engaged. The best way to be a thinker. One more question about modern identity. Yes, sir, please. What we mean by that, and when she read lonnies opening, where he said something about the forerunners 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 they planted those seeds and they said, hey, we fought for this country, and we want our equality. That stayed. The reason we picked some individuals, Josephine Baker i believe was the only woman who spoke in 1963. A. Phillip randolph was there in 1963. Charles hamilton houston and mary they do not pass until 1952, 53, 54, and those individuals played a critical part in world war i and they planted the seeds for modern identity, which set the stage for the modernday Civil Rights Movement. Thats what we mean. Not to mention beyond. Talk about not to mention beyon the Anticolonial Movement which starts in many ways with the turks. Its all there in the book. The exhibition. Absolutely. We also would like you to, as they say, buy this book. Yes. And read more about the great writing of our colleague dr. Salter and repeating the names he mentioned, lisa bu drow. Whitney cooper. John jr. Chad williams. Jay winter. And curtis young. I have little time so cant give shout out to Lonnie Pressler or dean. I had more time i would. Lets do one more. That young, beautiful woman. As reminded by a colleague can i ask all active duty and members of the military who made a sacrifice for this country to stand, you can stand too colonel. Bless you. Thank you. [ applause ] thank you. Thank you. Thank you. [ applause ] nice. You hear people say almost as a throw away, thank you for your service, but we really mean it. Thank you for your service. [ inaudible ] well, you stood up so i cant deny you, maam. Thank you. You gentlemen. [ inaudible ]. Okay. Yes. Yes. Okay. Nice to meet you. What would you say are the key elements for us to galvanize the military Going Forward . Because the military has always been a precursor of what happens in society. True that. So, my grandma would say the more things change the more they stay the same, so the struggle, were still fighting. Uhhuh. As a colonel of the United States army, the minority officers, both male and female they are dwindling. Wow. Yes. And during the Civil Rights Era where we were a community and we were interlaced and we were invested in each others future and my future is tied to hers, my neighbor to the right now, were getting richer, were getting better, were moving out of the communities, were forgetting where we came from, not reaching back. Were engaging in retrocide and opposed to supporting each other, jealousy, what would you say are the top three factors. Three . Im also the Vice President of communications for the roxy communication Mentorship Organization for africanamerican officers, so what you tell me im going to print and put on the website. So no pressure in other words. Im a very reticent person. Top three in terms of how we help each other and rep reclaim our legacy of helping each other and building each othup. Yes, maam. Ill go ahead and address one related to the military because we dont have pay a lot of time. I served for 25 years and know exactly what youre saying. Briefly couple years ago i ran into africanamerican gentleman and said its going to be fine, theyre in the pipeline. I know theyre not in the pipeline because i was studying it. So what we have to do as a community, 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. For its a tough sell, but we have got to let our Young Brothers and sisters know that when you go into the military youre not just going to fight for your country and be used and abused, the reason i have a masters and a phd is because i was in the military. I was a young lieutenant w40 who was selected, i received a letter if said because your academic background and military success youre a dont candidate to teach at the United States military academy and i was on a fiveyear program and got paid to be a student for two years and an instructor for three years. I had a professor who luckily told me about abd, all but disertation. I took all my phd classes and then teaching at west point. Theres a host of men and women, white, brown, black who have retired from the military and have a second profession because the military created the platform for it. Its not just what you see on tv. I tell people, i love boys in the hood but i was a Second Lieutenant when Lawrence Fishburn told going jr. That thor army is no place for a brother, i was like oh, man. I just went in the military. It is a place for brother and sister. Its a hard sell. So whats not a hard sell is this great book. No thats real. We going to be selling this. Out to Heritage Hall and as we thank these gentlemen one more time. Keith, can we pull up the reel. Thank you gentlemen. God bless you. [ applause ] last summer Purdue University hosted a conference called remaking american political history. Tonight beginning at 8 00 eastern a night of programs with a panel of historians looking at u. S. Politics and government from the earliest days of the american republic. Watch American History tv tonight and over the weekend on c span 3. Span3. C span has unfiltered coverage of the white house and Supreme Court and Public Policy events from the primaries to the impeachment process and now the federal response to the coronavirus. Watch all cspans Public Affairs programs on television, online or on our free radio app. Be part of the National Conversation through cspans daily Washington Journal Program or through our social media feeds. Cspans created by americas Public Television companies and brought to you today by your television provider. The president s from Public Affairs, available now in paper back and e book. Presents biographies of every president coring ni president s organized by ranking from best to worst and look into the chief executive leadership styles. Visit our web spite cspan. Org president to learn more and order your copy today wherever books and ebooks are sold. Up next, we visit the smith sewnian museum of africanAmerican History and culture in washington, d. C. Military history guest curator