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Author:

Williams, Chad Louis, 1976-

Title:

Torchbearers of democracy : African American soldiers in World War I era / Chad L. Williams.

Publisher:

University of North Carolina Press,

Copyright Date:

c2010

Description:

xiii, 452 p. : ill. ; 25 cm.

Subject:

World War, 1914-1918--Participation, African American.
World War, 1914-1918--African Americans.
African American soldiers--History--20th century.
African Americans--Social conditions--20th century.
African Americans--History--History--20th century.
Racism--History--United States--History--20th century.
Citizenship--United States--History--20th century.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents:

Democracy at war : African Americans, citizenship, and the meanings of military service -- The "race question" : the U.S. government and the training experiences of African American soldiers -- The hell of war : African American soldiers in labor and combat -- Les soldats noir : France, Black military service, and the challenges of internationalism and diaspora -- Waging peace : the end of the war and the hope of democracy -- The war at home : African American veterans and violence in the long "red summer" -- Soldiers to "new Negroes" : African American veterans and postwar racial militancy -- Lest we forget : the war and African American soldiers in history and memory.

Summary:

"In a manner that no previous author has achieved, Chad Williams vividly captures the turbulent times and sentiments of African Americans in general and black soldiers in particular during the World War I era. His scholarship is outstanding."--John Morrow jr., Franklin Professor of History, University of Georgia.
"In this important, sophisticated, and original study, Chad Williams establishes the centrality of black soldiers and veterans to the struggles against racial inequality during World War I as no other book does. Torchbearers of Democracy sensitively examines the fraught connections between citizenship, obligation, and race while highlighting the diversity of black soldiers' experiences in fighting on behalf of a democracy that denied them rights and dignity. This is a major contribution to political, military, and civil rights history."--Eric Arnesen, George Washington University.
Woodrow Wilson thrust the United States into World War I by declaring, "The world must be made safe for democracy." For the 380,000 African American soldiers who fought and labored in the global conflict, these words carried life-or-death meaning. Relating stories bridging the war and postwar years, spanning the streets of Chicago and the streets of Harlem, from the battlefields of the American South to the battlefields of the Western Front, Chad Williams reveals the central role of African American soldiers in World War I and how they, along with race activists and ordinary citizens alike, committed to fighting for democracy at home and beyond.
Using a diverse range of sources, Williams connects the history of African American soldiers and veterans to issues such as the obligations of citizenship, combat and labor, diaspora and interna- tionalism, homecoming and racial violence, "New Negro" militancy, and African American historical memories of the war. Democracy may have been distant from the everyday lives of African Americans at the dawn of the war, but it nevertheless remained a powerful ideal that sparked the hopes of black people throughout the country for societal change. Torchbearers of Democracy reclaims the legacy of black soldiers and establishes the World War I era as a defining moment in the history of African Americans and peoples of African descent more broadly. --Book Jacket.

Series:

The John Hope Franklin series in African American history and culture.

ISBN:

0807833940 (cloth : alk. paper)
9780807833940 (cloth : alk. paper)

OCLC:

(OCoLC)537652408

LCCN:

2010006647

Locations:

USUX851 -- Iowa State University - Parks Library (Ames)

FCPB384 -- Dike Public Library (Dike)

OIAX792 -- Grinnell College (Grinnell)

OZAX845 -- Northwestern College - DeWitt Library (Orange City)