I will forward this to my department and to some African-American studies
lists I am on.
Denise
Dr Denise Noble
Assistant Professor
African American & African Studies,
The Ohio State University
386G University Hall
230 North Oval Mall
Columbus, 43210
Ohio
USA
+1-614-292-8075
On 3/18/14, 8:11 PM, "BASA automatic digest system"
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>There is 1 message totaling 428 lines in this issue.
>
>Topics of the day:
>
> 1. Help needed: African-American AAF personnel in Britain in the Secodn
>World
> War
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 13:44:33 -0000
>From: Claire Adler <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Help needed: African-American AAF personnel in Britain in the
>Secodn World War
>
>Dear All
>
>
>
>Please see a message below from the Imperial War Museum in Duxford, please
>reply directly to Carl:
>
>
>
>Ideally we're looking for an 'in' to anyone who is aware of surviving
>veterans of black aviation engineer battalion troops, or those in other
>ordnance, quartermaster, engineering or transportation companies. By the
>end
>of the war there were around 12,000 African-American AAF personnel in
>Britain- so we're working with quite a small potential pool.
>
>
>
>Donald Miller in Masters of the Air gives a good impression of what this
>meant in East Anglia, where 'the most rigid form of Jim Crow was
>practiced':
>
>
>
>'Blacks were stationed at segregated facilities near bomber stations, but
>for both races the main nightlife was in larger towns like Ipswich, with
>its
>150 public houses. With their smaller numbers, blacks were restricted to
>only eight Ipswich pubs, one dance hall, and a segregated Red Cross club.
>In
>East Anglia, the inappropriately named River Dove was the designated color
>line. All villages and towns east of the river were out of bounds for
>black
>troops.'
>
>
>
>Quite a bit of research has been done on segregation in the US military
>during the Second World War, with some focus on Britain and, more
>specifically, the AAF. We've looked into quite a bit of this research, but
>it does tend to focus on the political and cultural implications of
>segregation without using much actual testimony from African-American
>troops
>themselves! We're therefore very keen to find veterans to interview. We
>realise this is potentially a tough ask, but if anyone on the mailing list
>can give us some pointers, they would be very gratefully received.
>
>
>
>In the medium term, it would also be good if the list was aware of the
>project, so that we can hopefully build some links with researchers or
>interested groups from different communities, especially as we look to
>expand our Virtual Volunteers sector.
>
>
>
>All the best,
>
>
>
>Carl
>
>
>
>Carl Warner
>
>Research and Information Manager
>
>
>
>IWM Duxford
>
>Cambridgeshire
>
>CB22 4QR
>
>
>
>(t) 01223 497986
>
>(f) 01223 835120
>
>(e) <mailto:[log in to unmask]> [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
>Description: Description: IWM_listed branches_#1FA326
>
>
>
>
>
>Claire Adler
>
>Heritage Learning Consultant and Internal Project Manager for the Huguenot
>Heritage Centre
>
>268 Cherry Hinton Road
>
>Cambridge
>
>CB1 7AU
>
>
>
>E: [log in to unmask]
>
>T: 01223 411555
>
>M: 07970671965
>
>L: <http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=19585028&trk=hb_tab_pro_top>
>http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=19585028&trk=hb_tab_pro_top
>
>W: www.claireadler.co.uk
>
>
>
>------------------------------
>
>End of BASA Digest - 17 Mar 2014 to 18 Mar 2014 (#2014-74)
>**********************************************************
>
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