African American soldier's World War II photograph album of Munich, Germany

African American soldier's World War II photograph album of Munich, Germany

WWII, Veterans, Black Veterans, Germany, Photo album

Small photograph album (6x8 inches) housing 35 loosely mounted photographs of U.S. Army African American soldiers in Munich, Germany, August 1945. Comprises 34 black-and-white snapshots measuring approximately 2 1/2 x 3 3/4 inches, and one black-and-white photographic postcard portrait (3x5 inches) of a Corporal Jack Taylor, to whom the album may have belonged. The caption on the back of the postcard bears the name of the 3909th Quartermaster Truck Company. The only dates in the album are found on one page and refer to August 16-19th, 1945, but the other photographs may have been taken before or after this period. The snapshots are of individuals and groups, and chiefly show the men enjoying some leisure time during the last months of World War II. Most of the images have handwritten captions with last names, nicknames, and commentary. Scenes include the men posing in their bathing suits in what appears to be an un-segregated pool facility, posing with Army trucks, standing in front of a bombed-out building (the only city scene), and waiting in line at mealtime. Among the last names are: Sergeant Carney, Sergeant Riley, Sergeant Ousley, "McKnight," Louis Allen, Sergeant Edward Johnson and Private Robert Johnson ("the fat boys"), First Sergeant Brown, "Mule" Crawford, Homer Magee, "Blind" Knight, J. Martin, Jenkins ("the jive man from New Jersey"), and Corporal Jack Taylor. Acquired as part of the John Hope Franklin Research Center of African and African American History at Duke University.

Duke University Libraries

1945-08

Image set

JPEG

The African American soldier's World War II photograph album of Munich, Germany was received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library as a purchase in 2017.

https://repository.duke.edu/dc/aframersoldiersalbum3909th/afrst01001