Newest Smithsonian exhibit explores African American service history in World War I

Between 1920 and 1938, the headquarters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People displayed a flag bearing the words, "A Man Was Lynched Yesterday," above its headquarters. This flag was a symbol to mark the lynchings of African Americans in the United States years before and after the First World War. 

Visitors can see this flag, along with other artifacts before and after World War I, in the National Museum of African American History and Culture's newest exhibit, “We Return Fighting,” which walks visitors through the black experience of the 1900s through the lens of the servicemen and women.

The 4,200 square-foot exhibition’s three sections: pre, during, and post-war chronicle the discrimination black service members faced but also explains the birth of the civil rights movement through black thought leaders like writer Ida B. Wells and prominent lawyer and artillery officer, Lt. Charles Hamilton Houston.

“We have been working on it as an institution for about two years ... but I’ve actually been living with the story for 25 years,” said Krewasky Salter, guest curator for “We Return Fighting.”

Salter began studying African American history in 1991 and African American military history in 1993. A retired Army colonel, he made the decision to eventually combine his two interests to become somewhat of an expert on a little-known topic--black military history.

Much of Salter's research includes examining how all-black units came to be during World War I. According to historians, many white southerners feared the idea that African Americans armed with weapons might inspire violent revolt. Even high-ranking officers shared the disposition that grouping black and White service members could prove disastrous.

Following the establishment of an all-black Army officer training camp in Des Moines, Iowa in 1917, Chief of Staff for the Army, General Tasker Bliss, said, "In some of the cantonments there would be as many as 14,000 colored troops alongside no more than 18,000 white troops. If either or both get out of hand ... nothing short of a national calamity would be the result."

As a result, officers limited black servicemen to primarily supply responsibilities and a small section of combat jobs in segregated divisions.

With the excitement and hopeful disposition of African Americans at their disposal, the U.S. military established two combat divisions for African American soldiers in 1917— the 92nd division and the 93rd division which included National Guard units from the southeast.

The exhibit features uniforms, canteens, and even trench art used by the men of both divisions.

Curators and historians also paid special attention to the contributions black women played during the First World War. In the same vein as black men, black women hoped that by contributing to the war via fundraising, volunteering with war support groups, and taking care of the wounded as nurses, they too would be seen as first-class citizens in the U.S.

“There were 1800 certified black nurses ready to go overseas with the Red Cross but unfortunately, the surgeon general’s office although they signed them up, they made them wait and they never had an opportunity to go overseas,” said Lisa Budreau, senior curator of military history for the Tennessee State Museum.

Back in the states, black women were still emerging from a very recent slave-era and laws prohibited them from participating in social groups with white women. They instead made a place for themselves supporting black soldiers, sailors, and Marines within the National Association of Colored Women (NACW) and The Salvation Army, among other organizations.

Aside from serving in nursing and defense industry capacities at home, historians are aware of only three black women who were allowed to serve on behalf of the United States in France: Addie W. Hunton, Kathryn M. Johnson, and Helen Curtis. While small in number, the women recorded the experiences of black soldiers in Europe in a book that’s now on display in the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

As visitors walk through the chronology of "We Return Fighting", the African American military experience shifts from one of facing racism alongside their white-uniformed counterparts in Europe, to navigating pre-Jim Crow laws on the American front.

The museum also features a 160-page companion book, “We Return Fighting: World War I and the Shaping of Modern Black Identity,” which includes first-person essays, photographs, and photo renderings.

The National Museum of African American History and Culture opened in 2016 in the nation’s capital and currently includes about 3,000 objects on display from its collection. In 2019, the museum was the third-most visited across the entire Smithsonian Institution.

How African Americans during World War I continued to fight for freedom at home