Black History Month: Black Americans in World War I

Tessa
Tessa

Black Americans have fought in wars defending the United States for centuries. Their contributions to World War I and the stories of the soldiers who returned from that war are the focus of this list, which includes older texts and newer books, since this history is perhaps not as well-covered as that of World War II or the Civil War. If you are contemplating the Century of Black Commemorations that this year’s Black History Month theme covers, this part of Black History is worth diving into.  

Jan 28, 2026

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In the Catalog

All Blood Runs Red

All Blood Runs Red

The Legendary Life of Eugene Bullard– Boxer, Pilot, Soldier, Spy

Phil Keith

Eugene Ballard ran away from his Georgia home at the age of eleven and made his way in the world as a boxer, and then a fighter pilot for the French Foreign Legion in World War I and a spy in World War II, after which he was forced to flee the Nazis and come back to America, living in New York City but never settling for a commonplace life.

From the Catalog

From Libby

From Hoopla

Black Faces of War

Black Faces of War

A Legacy of Honor From the American Revolution to Today

Robert V. Morris

Black Americans fought to be celebrated for their achievements at home and in their life as soldiers, as this book highlights with its profiles of Army officers, airmen, and civilians touched by war.

From the Catalog

From Hoopla

Black Soldiers, White Laws

Black Soldiers, White Laws

The Tragedy of the 24th Infantry in 1917 Houston

John A. Haymond

Inflamed by a rumor that a white mob was arming to attack them, and after weeks of police harassment, more than one hundred African American soldiers of the 3rd Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, took their weapons without authorization and, led by a sergeant, marched into the largely Black San Felipe district of the city. Violent confrontations with police and civilians ensued and nineteen lives were lost.

From the Catalog

From Hoopla

The Harlem Hellfighters

The Harlem Hellfighters

Max Brooks & Caanan White

A graphic novel celebrating the historic infantry regiment known as the Harlem Hellfighters. This regiment of Black soldiers fought heroically and spent the most time in combat of any American unit but faced discrimination when they returned home.

From the Catalog

Lost Battalions

Lost Battalions

The Great War and the Crisis of American Nationality

Richard Slotkin

Richard Slotkin describes the valor and struggle of the Harlem Hellfighters and the “Lost Battalion” made up of immigrants living in New York City, soldiers who fought in a long and bloody war and returned home to little recognition of their efforts.

From the Catalog

From Hoopla

Loyalty in the Time of Trial

Loyalty in the Time of Trial

The African American Experience in World War I

Nina Mjagkij

Almost 370,000 Black Americans served in World War I and even more migrated to the north of the United States to take jobs that supported the war. After World War I ended, these experiences of fighting for their country spurred Black Americans on to fight for equality in their daily lives.

From the Catalog

From Hoopla

A More Unbending Battle

A More Unbending Battle

The Harlem Hellfighters’ Struggle for Freedom in WWI and Equality at Home

Peter Nelson

The 369th Infantry Regiment was the first regiment of Black Americans to fight in World War I. They were better known as the “Harlem Hellfighters”, having been recruited from that borough. Made to fight with the French troops due to segregation laws, they were incredibly successful at their duty. This is their story.

From the Catalog

From Hoopla

Porter, Steward, Citizen

Porter, Steward, Citizen

An African American’s Memoir of World War I

Royal A. Christian

Royal A. Christian chronicled his extraordinary experiences in a memoir that was privately published in 1919.

From the Catalog

Private Politics and Public Voices

Private Politics and Public Voices

Black Women’s Activism From World War I to the New Deal

Nikki L. M. Brown

Black women worked from their homes to support the Black soldiers who went to fight World War I, raising donations, sending “comfort kits”, and finding ways to support their communities involved in the war abroad.

From the Catalog

Torchbearers of Democracy

Torchbearers of Democracy

African American Soldiers in World War I Era

Chad L. Williams

Torchbearers of Democracy reclaims the legacy of black soldiers and establishes the World War I era as a defining moment in the history of African Americans and peoples of African descent more broadly.

From the Catalog

From Hoopla

The Wounded World

The Wounded World

W.E.B. Du Bois and the First World War

Chad L. Williams

Historian Chad Williams traces famed author W.E.B. Du Bois’s struggle to write a history of Black participation in World War I. Du Bois ultimately gave up on the project after becoming disillusioned by stories of the war and its soldiers. A work of history that sheds light on a significant figure as well as a scarcely-covered aspect of the war itself.

From the Catalog

From Hoopla

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