In 1941 the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the construction agent for the War Department, maintained construction battalions that were deemed less valuable than units in other Army branches. Coupling this practice with the racial beliefs dominant in the Jim Crow South, it … Read MoreThe 97th Engineering Regiment (1941-1948)
George Watson was a United States Army private who during World War II was responsible for rescuing several soldiers from drowning at sea near Porlock, Harbor, New Guinea. Watson was born in 1915 in Birmingham, Alabama. He attended Colorado A&M University (now Colorado State University) … Read MoreGeorge Watson (1915-1943)
Lemuel Augustus Penn Sr. was the assistant superintendent of the District of Columbia (D.C.) public schools, a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army, and a decorated veteran of World War II. He was born in Washington, D.C. on September 19, 1915, to Henry Penn, … Read MoreLemuel Augustus Penn Sr. (1915-1964)
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Dr. Tulinabo S. Mushingi was the U.S. Ambassador to the West African nation of Burkina Faso. After nomination by President Barack Obama and his confirmation by the U.S. Senate, Mushingi arrived in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, and began serving … Read MoreTulinabo Salama Mushingi (1957 – )
When the U.S. Army was reorganized on July 28, 1866, for peacetime service after the American Civil War, six regiments were set aside for Black enlisted men. These included four infantry regiments, numbered 38th through 41st. The 24th Infantry was organized during a reduction in … Read More24th Infantry Regiment (1866-1951)
During its brief and rocky tenure from 1918 to 1924, pianist Gertrude Harvey Wright was one of four women in Seattle’s first black musicians’ union, the American Federation of Musicians’ Local 458. Wright, Virginia Hughes, a “Mrs. Austin,” and (Edythe) “Turnham,” all worked with their … Read MoreRace, Gender, Jazz & Local 493: Black Women Musicians in Seattle: 1920-1955
