Fighting for the Right to Fight: African American Experiences in World War II
New exhibit explores challenges and triumphs of African Americans during war era.
On January 27, 2023, Irving Archives & Museum will open a new special exhibit called Fighting for the Right to Fight: African American Experiences in World War II. Produced by The National WWII Museum, the exhibit features artifacts, photographs and oral histories to highlight some of the extraordinary achievements and challenges of African Americans during World War II, both overseas and on the Home Front.
A national advisory committee, including the late Dr. Clement Alexander Price of Rutgers University, was commissioned to help frame the exhibition. The committee, led by co-chairs Dr. John Morrow of the University of Georgia and Claudine Brown of the Smithsonian Institution, helped advise on the exhibition’s narrative arc and content.
In the years before World War II, African Americans in many parts of the country were treated as second-class citizens. Discriminatory practices were condoned by the government, and African Americans were systematically denied many rights and liberties by laws that kept them in positions of inferiority. Due to the landmark Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court decision in 1896, the United States was a nation where “separate but equal” was law in many states. In addition, many military leaders declared African Americans unfit to serve in combat. However, once the war began, thousands rushed to enlist, determined to fight for freedom, while still being denied equality at home.
On display through April 14, 2023, Fighting for the Right to Fight illustrates how hopes for securing equality inspired many to enlist, the discouraging reality of the segregated non-combat roles given to black recruits, and the continuing fight for “Double Victory” that laid the groundwork for the modern Civil Rights Movement.
Through a myriad of interactive experiences, visitors will discover the wartime stories of individual servicemembers who took part in this journey of extraordinary challenge, from unheralded heroes to famous names, including Alex Haley (US Coast Guard); Sammy Davis Jr. (US Army); Benjamin Davis, Jr. (US Army Air Forces); Medgar Evers (US Army) and more.
The centerpiece of the exhibit is an original eight-minute video about the famed 332nd Fighter Group (better known as the Tuskegee Airmen), who in many ways became the public focus of African American participation during the war. The piece is narrated by television personality Robin Roberts, whose own father flew with the Tuskegee Airmen during the war.
Including personal accounts from members of the 332nd Fighter Group, the video provides an overview of how their success in battle became a great symbol of bravery, helping refute notions that African Americans were inferior performers in the military, especially in roles requiring advanced training. Lieutenant Colonel William Holloman III recalls his leader Colonel Benjamin O. Davis, Jr.’s encouragement: “He said, ‘America’s watching you.’ He instilled in us a pride that I don’t think was there before we went in the service.”
Additionally, Fighting for the Right to Fight will feature two medals representing the seven African Americans who were awarded the Medal of Honor in 1997, the bittersweet result of a long investigation by the US military on discriminatory policies in the awarding of combat medals. The exhibit will also provide in-depth coverage of lesser-known events and service, such as that of the USS Mason, the first American ship to have a predominately African American crew.
See artifacts and images from the exhibit and learn more at righttofightexhibit.org.
Advisory Committee for Fighting for the Right to Fight: African American Experiences in World War II
Co-chair Dr. John Morrow
History Department Chair, University of Georgia
Co-chair Claudine Brown
Assistant Secretary for Education and Access, Smithsonian Institution
Dr. Dan Haulman
Chief, Organizational History Division, Air Force Historical Research Agency
Dr. Clement Alexander Price (deceased)
Former Director of the Institute on Ethnicity, Culture, and the Modern Experience, Rutgers University
Dr. Raphael Cassimere
Professor Emeritus, Department of History, University of New Orleans
Dr. Charles Teamer
Director Emeritus, The Amistad Research Center, Tulane University
The National WWII Museum tells the story of the American experience in the war that changed the world – why it was fought, how it was won, and what it means today – so that future generations will know the price of freedom, and be inspired by what they learn. Dedicated in 2000 as The National D-Day Museum and now designated by Congress as America’s National WWII Museum, it celebrates the American Spirit, the teamwork, optimism, courage and sacrifices of the men and women who fought on the battlefront and served on the Home Front. For more information, call 877-813-3329 or 504-528-1944 or visit nationalww2museum.org.
Schedule of Upcoming Programs and Events
IAM Scholar’s Talk with Ron Abram
Saturday, February 11, 2023
2 p.m.
Ron Abram, Calvin Littlejohn’s grandson, will share some of Littlejohn’s photographs. Abram will show a wide variety of scenes from the African-American experience in North Texas. Mr. Abram manages the Littlejohn Photo Archive in association with the Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas, Austin. The Littlejohn archive is the most comprehensive photo documentation of urban Texas African-American life and culture in the post-World War II segregation era.
IAM Film Screening
Saturday, February 25, 2023
2 p.m.
Double Victory Documentary
As World War II threatened the United States, young African-Americans took a new opportunity to become military pilots. From their training in Tuskegee, Alabama and combat missions over Africa and Europe, to the continued fight for equality at home, Double Victory is the story of the Tuskegee Airmen in their own words.
IAM Film Screening
Saturday, March 4
2 p.m.
Double Victory Documentary
As World War II threatened the United States, young African-Americans took a new opportunity to become military pilots. From their training in Tuskegee, Alabama and combat missions over Africa and Europe, to the continued fight for equality at home, Double Victory is the story of the Tuskegee Airmen in their own words.
IAM Scholar’s Talk
Saturday, March 18
2 p.m.
Brigadier General Leon Johnson
Leon Johnson retired from the U.S. Air Force with the rank of brigadier general after 33 years of service. During his AF career, General Johnson commanded a fighter squadron, fighter group, was the Vice Commander of 10th Air Force at the Joint Reserve Base in Ft. Worth, TX and served as Mobilization Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force.
