Transcripts For CSPAN2 Book Discussion On Harlems Rattlers A

CSPAN2 Book Discussion On Harlems Rattlers And The Great War July 5, 2014

Disclosure that a u. N. Peacekeeping force from nepal was the source of a cholera outbreak. He leaves readers fully aware of how much remains to be done if haiti is to have a Brighter Future is and it currently is looking at. That is it, they were all fabulous books but one of them has to win the bernstein award. That is dan fagin for toms river a story of science and salvation. [applause] dont go quite yet. Have two words. Wow. All right. I long for liz. [applause] wow. Long form lives because of people like the bernstein family. Thank you very much for places like New York Public Library that care about reality, care about what actually is in this world. It lives because of people like you that support this kind of work and it especially lives because of amazing books like david and jonathan and fred and sheri fink and we are just surrogates for a much Larger Population of people who do this work everyday. This is an amazing faint. Truth actually matters and when it stopped smattering, that is when democracy dies and is harder than ever to tell the story of reality. There are many barriers and all the people i just mentioned, starting with the bernsteins in New York Public Library, they are all helping us tell the story of reality. So thank you very much. [applause] our other finalists have something which should help along the way. Fred kaplan. [applause] jonathan katz. [applause] sheri fink. [applause] thank you very much. And running away with the czech for david finkel. Thanks very much. Congratulations to all the finalists, to the great work you have been engaged in. To dan, thank you again. To helen bernstein, a manner weakest you all this evening to be the new information award. Thank you all for coming. Please stay and enjoy yourself. [applause] [applause] [inaudible conversations] visit booktv. Org to watch any of the programs you see here on line. Tied the author or book title on the upper left side of the page and click search. You can share anything you see on booktv. Org by clicking share on the upper left side of the page and selecting the format. Booktv streams live online for 48 hours with tom nonfiction books and authors. Booktv. Org. You are watching booktv. Next, the first africanamerican regimen to fight in world war i by Jeffrey Sammons, this 369th infantry regiment and the Jeffrey Sammons examines the regiments leadership, its actions in the field of battle and the challenges the men faced following the war. This is about an hourandahalf. It gives me great pleasure to introduce the man of the hour, Jeffrey Sammons is a professor in the department of history at New York University where he has taught since 1989. In 1987, was named the Research Fellow at the university of camden and completed a critically acclaimed beyond the ring, the role of boxing in American Society in 2001. He was awarded a fellowship by the chamber of research. Soon after received a National Endowment for the humanities fellowship for 20022003 in support of harlems great war. Famous is a native in new jersey, earned his bachelors in history at Rutgers College where he graduated and elected to Phi Beta Kappa in 2001. He earned a masters degree in history from Top University in 1974 and the ph. D. In American History in 1982. In 198384, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the university of cape town. After his return he became involved in the Antiapartheid Movement and played an Important Role in this city of houston investment campaign. Jeffrey sammons continued as director of a Charity Golf Event for the Naacp Legal Defense Fund come as a board member of the clear view legacy foundation, black funded and operated golf course on the National Historic registry in east ohio. As an adviser on historical land divers to the matters, in the professional Golfers Association of america. As a member of the museum of Library Committee the United States Golf Association and as a member of the usga pga africanamerican golf apartheid working group Jeffrey Sammons has written widely on the subject of sports and race and has participated and consulted on numerous documentary projects with independent film makers as well as television networks. He is deeply involved in efforts to collect, preserve and represents that which relates to the africanamerican experiences in golf and will write his next book on the subject. Jeffrey sammons has served on the Editorial Board of the journal of sports history and as an assistant editor of sport and social he shoes. He has also taught at Princeton University and holland college, roanoke, va. And dupont scholar. [applause] welcome to our stage. Before you begin, you are not going to see it for so long. Next time you see it. And at that time. I will introduce the conversation partner. Listen to the women. I should have given her the short version of the resume so we could have more time for this discussion but i want to thank the sanford institute, dr. Linda patterson for coming up with the idea for this event. And the support of the center for black literature at met trevors college headed by dr. Brenda greene and Clarence Reynolds who have been of great help to me. I would also like to thank roger green who has actually picks completed the Monumental Task of reading this book. And lost a lot of sleep as the result. Let me move on to a to harlems rattlers and the great war the undaunted 369th regiment and the African American quest equality. I would like to begin first by reading from something that William Pickens wrote. William pickens, scholar best with the naacp, india host hundreds. This is what William Pickens says about blacks in the First World War. We tend to overlook the First World War as an important event in the africanamerican experience. We think about the Civil Rights Movement, we sort of tie in to brown vs. Board of education as if 1954 is the start of the Civil Rights Movement or rosa parkss refusal to leave her seat on the bus or maybe even tied to world war ii but we dont think about world war i as an important event in the history of africanamericans. Here is what pickens had to say. What the war made clear to all, especially blacks was character is more fundamental than reputation. Just think of that. Character is more fundamental than reputation. What does that mean . It means to me that reputation is something that is imposed from the outside, and character comes from within antwan lewis and i would like you to take away tonight from this event is black people need not worry so much about what others think about them, say about them, do to them come as what we feel about ourselves which is really important. I am going to say one thing that i have found as a result of writing this book, and that is that we are one great people to have survived, to have thrived, considering all we have into it and continue and continue to endure. I should also say that i did that at the harvard club and i loved it there but i cant do it alone. We always needed white friends. We need Frederick Douglas needed white friends, we needed a white friends in the Civil Rights Movement and a creamy white friends today, as general james, general Nathaniel James who was a commander of the 369 food president richmond is with us. As he well knows, hes with his lovely wife and the veterans association. We please stand . He knows how important hamilton was to the 369th especially after the war. And his son was instrumental in the establishment for approval but back to William Pickens. Pickens said world war i showed clearly that blacks had become from a most undesirable element to the most reliable element in america as symbolized by the calling out of National Guard troops to protect the white house. Award and allowed blacks from africa and america the opportunity to make their first great record as a modern International Factor and positive world influence. This was a lesson never to be lost on blacks. World war i produce a self confident new negro and all change that came later owes much to the forward looking and forward moving people of the time. That is my introduction tonight to contextualized it. I would like to briefly run through some of the images in the book. I went to wet your appetite, i will sign it for you. I hope to increase the value for you. And also introduce you to some of the important events and figures in the regiment and also served as a tax for discussion that Professor Green and i will have. Here we have a commemoratives history presented by the officers of the regiment to Benjamin Davis senior who was the first black commander of the 369th president and you can see the first of the regiment. First, never lost a man to capture, never gave up a foot and taken, and we also have the symbol of the rattlesnake and that is why this is called harlems rattlers. That is what the men called themselves. I believe harlem hell fighters was something of france would give them and believe it or not the reason that it stuck, the most visible symbol of the 369th after the war was the band. Lot of people dont know this but the 369th was disbanded, it was decommissioned. There was no 369th anymore after world war i so the band became the most visible representative, they embraced the term hellfire, often called the health later banned. I have seen them pass music album cover, has held fighters band etc. Etc. So that says something about Bert Williams was an early recruiter for the regiment, very close to the first commander. Here we have charles young, who should have been first black commander of the regiment and should have been the first commander period and he was drummed out of active duty and restored to active duty after the war, he actually died in africa, this is when he was about to leave. We see an early shot of the National Guard which was the original designation panned they are drilling in harlem. An interesting character, you need to get the book to know that he killed somebody in the regiment and almost destroyed the regiment in his court martial. There we havent men in the trenches with their french helmets, french equipment and american uniforms. You can see the rifles and grenade launchers, they are at the bottom. We have Henry Johnson and needham robert. Henry johnsons application for the medal of honor has passed muster for with the secretary of the army. Is now on the secretary of defense, chuck hegel and the chiefs of staff or the army chief of staff to see if Henry Johnson will get a medal of honor. This is two people who have been misidentified, that is a photograph by james famous rendering of the battle of Henry Johnson at the top and below it, the band. Three portraits of members of the 369th. The flat helmet could have happened before they actually were with the fringe or after when they left the french service. These are at west point and they are in color. Very beautiful paintings. Here we have general james has been there, monuments this is the great us all of the 369th, most obtained their glory. 171 individuals in the regiment received the error and the entire regiment did as well. The 369th did not get that monument until 1997, holds armada in the mountains near the german border. Many people dont know there was a campaign that involves the 369th and below that is a plaque honoring the 369th Weather Service and this is the area close to the rhine and remember the 369th were the first to cross the american troops. The painting representing the 369th on the rhine below that, colonel a word with a number of recipients of aquatic air. Lorelei spencer, the person having a metal pin on him is hamilton fitch who i mentioned before. Next to him is charles ward fillmore who live believe is the person most responsible for the regiments existence. We can talk about that later. We have some widows and mothers of deceased soldiers and William Butler who won the distinguished Service Cross and from barbados, any asians in the audience, there you go. Henry johnson upon his return, the parade, the party, the armory which was built in two stages for the administrative building and the drill shed in 1930 and Benjamin Davis senior, first commander, and the second black commander, came up through the ranks. In world war i, you can appreciate that was very involved in new york city and state politics. Here we have john mccrays famous field written by someone who wrote songs i didnt know he was of, but here is the famous rendering by Charles Rodgers of the battle of Henry Johnson. He titled it two first class americans when it was republished in the black paper, chicago defender, they said to real americans. They wanted to establish how firmly these people, these men were americans. Professor green, i held by was not too long. Dr. Patterson, dr. Green, thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. I personally know that there is so much to this story. I compel you to be sure to review the book. Theres so much information there. Bent now as we get ready for our conversation i would like to introduce to you professor roger green. Roger green is executive director of the bunch center for Public Policy at Medgar Evers College. The center is a think tank dedicated to advancing best practices in law, policy and Community Covenants that advanced social and economic judgments for urban communities within the United States and throughout. He was appointed as a distinguished lecturer at Medgar Evers College in 2006. From 1981 to 2005 he served as an elected member of the new york state assembly. During his tenure in the state legislature, green was widely acknowledged as an expert on education reform and children and family policies. A longstanding advocate of civil and human rights, green worked within the legislature, within the legislative preface to enacted numerous laws that reflected his commitment to these principles. In addition to his responsibilities he is a professor of Public Administration and publisher of the soontobe released solutions journal. Welcome, prof. [applause] we had finals this week and many of my students, i crams last night but it was worthwhile. It really was. This was an incredible book. Start from personal reflections, a lot of times when you read a historical book of this nature, it forces you to reflect on some of your own personal experiences so i was thinking about my father who served in the military in world war ii and i was an activist against the work and i knew he was not happy about the vietnamese war. In his last days he called my brother and i to his bedside and he said have you prepared . I want you to make sure all my stuff is in order, written, everything out, i want to be buried in the military cemetery. I was shocked. He said i want the flag over my casket. I paused and i said you are sure . He said this is my country, period. [applause] it hit me. Reading this book to a great extent really stirs up some serious emotions in me. I wanted to start the title the great war, the undaunted 369th president and africanamerican quest for equality. Throughout the narrative is pretty clear that you are trying to to articulate the fact that the securing africanamerican regiment oil service was like breaking the Glass Ceiling particularly in the context of an error that was overwhelmed by jim crow laws, brutal racial oppression, and documented that. Medgar evers, you write black americans have long known that in the master narrative of the nation, there are better represented than citizens soldier. Who initially had secured the Nations Defense as a member of the militia. We have black participation in e revolutionary war, people named themselves thed freedom, jupiter liberty, show that theyre aspiring to freedom if they havent received it already. Frederick douglass tells black men in new york state in his famous call colored men to arms that if we dont fight for freedom in the civil war against the slaveocracy, then freedom will lose half its luster. So this was a opportunity for blacks to prove themselves, and thats one of the reasons why establishing a National Guard unit in new york state was so important to all black new new yorkers but especially to black men. And you lead in right to another point because in a

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