Black World War II Service and Postwar Recognition Before Military Desegregation

Arthur Furr

Book

Furr, Arthur, Democracy’s Negroes, 1947, documents African American military service in World War II and the postwar effort to record Black patriotism in a nation still governed by segregation. The book supports research into African American military history, wartime civil rights, Black women’s service, and the documentary recovery of soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen, and home-front workers whose service challenged Jim Crow assumptions about citizenship and national belonging.

Furr, Arthur. Democracy’s Negroes: A Book of Facts Concerning the Activities of Negroes in World War II. Boston: The House of Edinboro, 1947. Signed and dated by Furr to Monroe Mason on February 18, 1947. First edition. 315 pages. Black-and-white photographs throughout. Original binding, 12mo. The inscription reads: “To Mr. Monroe Mason. A former co-author, war buddy and friend who has done much to encourage the production and presentation of this volume. Arthur F. Furr. Feb. 18, 1947.” Contents cover African American service in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Corps, and Coast Guard, with a chapter devoted to women in the war effort, including WANDS, identified here as an all African American women’s unit. The book includes biographical “heroes” sections, among them Dorie Miller, described as “the first Negro to be commended in World War II” for “distinguished devotion to duty, extraordinary courage and disregard for his own personal safety during the attack [on Pearl Harbor],” with a full-page photograph of Miller receiving the Navy Cross from Admiral Chester Nimitz. Miller was the first Black recipient of the Navy Cross.

Published two years after the war and one year before Executive Order 9981 desegregated the armed forces, Furr’s volume preserves a Black-authored record of service, recognition, and unequal citizenship at a critical postwar moment. Its attention to women’s service also connects the book to the broader history of Black women in uniform, including the predominantly African American Women’s Army Corps units whose wartime work remained underrecognized for decades. Very light shelfwear to top and bottom of spine; pages and text crisp and clear; overall very good. A signed association copy documenting African American World War II service across the armed forces before military desegregation.

Item #18646

Price: $440.00