World War, 1939-1945--African Americans

Content Description

This collection contains letters, documents, poetry, and photographs related to the military service of Jason M. Austin who served with the U.S. Marine Corps in World War II in the Pacific Campaign and the Korean War. The collection includes documentation regarding the overseas service of Austin with the African American Marines who were part of the First and Fourth Marine Depot based in the Russell Islands.

Scope and Contents

This collection pertains to Technician Fifth Grade Zeddie P. Barron, Jr., who was stationed in Virginia, Kentucky, Ireland, Britain, France, Holland, Belgium, and Germany between 1943 and 1945. As a clerk in the 552nd Railhead Company, Barron was attached to the First Engineer Special Brigade. The collection contains personal letters sent from Barron to his wife throughout his period of service, military documents including a ration book, Barron's military record and entrance physical, as well as newspaper clippings, envelopes, and an unpublished poem by Eugene S. Masters reacting to the use of the atomic bomb.

Scope and Contents This World War II collection relates to Gertrude Margaritte Ivory Bertram, an African American nurse who served in the U.S. Army. The collection consists of letters, photographs (depicting herself and her fellow nurses in uniform, as well as African American G.I.s, and a few photographs from her time in West Africa), personal items, books, manuscripts, newspaper clippings, and interviews. The materials mainly document Bertram's time at Fort Bragg, NC, but there is some information concerning her life before enlistment, travels during enlistment, and life after enlistment. Most of her enlistment was spent in West Africa and at Fort Bragg, NC. This collection is important, as it covers the...

Content Description

This collection relates to Judie Campbell who served in the U.S. Army with the 3104 General Quartermasters attached to the 450th Engineers in the European Theater of operations during World War II. This collection contains an oral history transcript where Campbell recounts his experiences in Liverpool, England, and throughout Europe as an African African. Campbell discusses desertion, his experiences being a squad leader, his experiences with European women, other soldiers who fathered children, and his experiences with race and racism.

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of an oral history interview transcript of an African American private in the 84th Aviation Squadron during World War II in the European Campaign as he details tensions between black soldiers and white officers.

Scope and Contents

This oral history interview transcript relates to Eddie Barrington who served with C Company in the 823rd Air Aviation Engineers. Barrington was assigned to work on the Ledo Road under General Joseph Stilwell in December 1942 in the China Burma India campaign. The collection includes a transcript of an interview, recorded May 20, 2004 and audio recording. The recording includes portions of the interview that are not transcribed.

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of an oral history interview transcript of a retired African American lieutenant colonel, and one of the Tuskegee Airmen, as he discusses his experiences during WWII and the Korean War.

Scope and Contents

The collection of Harold Cooler contains an oral history transcript of an interview provided by the Reichelt Program for Oral History. Cooler served in the U.S. Army in the 165th Engineer Combat Battalion in the European Theater during World War II.

Content Description

John E. Hinrichs served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1941 to 1946 in the Pacific Theatre (Iwo Jima, Hawaii). He enlisted before Pearl Harbor, was assigned to Midway, then the 8th Field Depot, and was sent in as a part of the Army of Occupation of Japan. He discussed how the army affected him later in life. This collection contains an oral history interview transcript.

Scope and Contents

These papers relate to Clarence J. Inniss, an African American corporal who served in the U.S. Army during World War II in the European Theater. The collection consists of an oral history interview transcript, a map, discharge papers, and photographs.

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of an oral history interview transcript of Leroy Reece who served as a Private First Class in the United States Army during World War II in the all-black unit, Company B, 317th Engineer Battalion which served in the European Theater.

Content Description

This collection consists of photocopies of personnel records, official orders, and photographs related to the service of John E. Phillip Picket with the 13th Air Force, a tail gunner serving aboard a B-24 with the 307th Bomb Group of the 13th Army Air Force during World War II. There are official records documenting the number of missions Pickett and his crew undertook. Copies of a number of publications, including a history of the 13th Air Force in the Pacific, as well as summaries of each bombing mission that Pickett and his crew undertook in 1945, and several postwar reminiscences are included in the collection.

Content Description

This collection relates to Katherine Reibman who served in the Women's Army Corps during World War II at Camp Upton. This collection contains an Oral History where Reibman recounts her experiences during the war where she was responsible for handing out uniforms and later handing over the records of African Americans being discharged.

Scope and Contents

This collection relates to Sherman T. Rose, a flight instructor for the Tuskegee Airman and a private in the Air Force enlisted reserve. This collection contains an oral history transcript that details Rose's job as a flight instructor and his experience with segregation in the military.

Scope and Contents This collection relates to Stanley P. Koss who served as a paratrooper with the 101st Airborne Division during World War II. Koss participated in the battle for Bastogne, Belgium. The majority of this collection pertains to Stanley P. Koss's war bond tour of war production plants in New York and New Jersey as part of an effort to boost war worker morale. The collection includes military orders, itineraries, letters, photographs, and newspaper clippings related to this tour, as well as several souvenirs acquired during the trip. Also included are letters from Koss's pre-service employer, Christmas cards, and a telegram informing Koss's mother that Stanley's brother had been killed in...

Content Description

This collection relates to Bernice Vaughn who served in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps during World War II. This collection contains an oral history transcript where Vaughn describes her assignment to Fort Benning, Georgia, her service in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, and an episode of racism she experienced while serving. This collection also includes Bernice Vaughn's Army discharge certificate and family photographs.

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of an oral history interview transcript of Marcia Wilkinson who served with the USO on the home front during World War II. This collection also contains personal photographs.