Del Norte Public Library

The true story of the African American heroes of World War I, the soldiers of the 369th Infantry Regiment, dubbed the "Harlem Hellfighters."

"On the stormy night of August 29, 1776, the Continental Army faced annihilation. After losing the Battle of Brooklyn, the British had Washington's army trapped against the East River. The fate of the Revolution rested heavily on the shoulders of the soldier-mariners from Marblehead, Massachusetts. Serving side-by-side in one of the country's first diverse units, they pulled off an "American Dunkirk" and saved the army. In the annals of the American...

In this fascinating and enlightening work, military historian Michael Lee Lanning reveals the little-known, critical, and heroic role African Americans played in the American Revolution, serving in integrated units, a situation that wouldn't exist again until the Korean War, more than 150 years later.

"Robert Smalls was a true American patriot. Despite the burdens America laid upon him, he loved our country. He believed in the "inherent justice" of American democracy and in the principles espoused in the Declaration of Independence"--Afterword.

The time period surrounding the Civil War was fraught with racism, the horrific conditions of slavery, and violence against freedmen. Though history remembers the war as one waged on behalf of African Americans, in reality, many African Americans participated in the conflict themselves. This book describes how African Americans fought in segregated units led by white officers, their achievements on the battle field (including sixteen Medals of Honor...

During the American Civil War, escaped slaves found refuge near Union forts. They formed communities called contraband camps. The largest of these was the Grand Contraband Camp near Fort Monroe in Virginia. The Grand Contraband Camp explores the history and legacy of this camp.

"Our correspondent, 'J.H.G., ' is a member of Co. C., of the 54th Massachusetts regiment. He is a colored man belonging to this city, and his letters are printed by us, verbatim et literatim, as we receive them. He is a truthful and intelligent correspondent, and a good soldier." -- The Editors, New Bedford (Massachusetts) Mercury, August 1863

he inspiring story of the black soldiers who fought in the Revolutionary War is important and unforgettable, yet it's unfamiliar to many people. These soldiers served heroically to win the freedom of a nation where "all men are created equal." However, many of those who fought would not get to experience the freedom for which they risked their lives.

A slave at Mount Vernon, the Virginia estate of George Washington, Caesar joins a loyalist regiment made up of former slaves to take part in the battle against his former master, the commander of the American forces.

"He had to sit in a segregated rail car on the journey to Army basic training in Mississippi in 1943. But two years later, the twenty-year-old African American from New York was at the controls of a P-51, prowling for Luftwaffe aircraft at five thousand feet over the Austrian countryside. By the end of World War II, he had done something that nobody could take away from him: He had become an American hero. This is the remarkable true story of Lt....