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African American Soldiers in World War I
A 2004 proclamation from Spartanburg, SC, honoring the 369th regiment Harlem Hellfighters.

A 2004 proclamation from Spartanburg, SC, honoring the 369th regiment Harlem Hellfighters.

In 1917, upon hearing that black soldiers would be training in his city, the mayor of Spartanburg, J. F. Floyd said the following, “I was sorry to learn that the Fifteenth Regiment has been ordered here, for with their Northern ideas about race equality, they will probably expect to be treated like white men. I can say right here that they will not be treated as anything except Negroes. This thing is like waving a red flag in the face of a bull, something that can’t be done without trouble.”

Citation Information
City of Spartanburg, “Proclamation honoring 369th Regiment Harlem Hell Fighters,” Digital Public Library of America, https://dp.la/item/f172dd29278a68ef09146f111ba991aa.
Note: These citations are programmatically generated and may be incomplete.
Courtesy of Spartanburg County Public Libraries via South Carolina Digital Library.

Tips for Students

For this source, consider:

  • the author's point of view
  • the author's purpose
  • historical context
  • audience

Item 10 of 11 in the Primary Source Set African American Soldiers in World War I

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A photograph of African American soldiers with French children in France, ca. 1915-1920.
A photograph of an African American woman, Kathryn M. Johnson, in France posing with African American soldiers, ca. 1918-1920.
A photograph of African American soldiers in France, some playing board games, ca. 1914-1918.
A glass plate slide of African American soldiers in Georgia, ca. 1918.
An excerpt from a 1921 memoir by Horace Pippin that provides a 1918 journal entry from his time fighting in France.
A letter from First Lieutenant James W. Alston to H. H. Brimley on November 1, 1918 about being only black officer in a hotel in France.
A letter from First Lieutenant James W. Alston to H. H. Brimley praising black soldiers, September 3, 1918.
A letter from First Lieutenant James W. Alston to H. H. Brimley on October 6, 1918 about being shot by a machine gun in the war.
An excerpt from Complete History of the Colored Soldiers in the World War, ca. 1919, discussing Sergeant Henry Johnson.
A 2004 proclamation from Spartanburg, SC, honoring the 369th regiment Harlem Hellfighters.
An excerpt from Colored Soldiers, a 1923 work of fiction by W. Irwin MacIntyre about black soldiers during the war.

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