Full Description
The First Black Marines: An Oral History tells the extraordinary stories of the men who made history as the first African Americans to serve in the US Marine Corps. Based on extensive oral history interviews with a group of veterans conducted by the authors, this new title in OUP's Graphic History Series documents the experiences of these men as they underwent training at the segregated Camp Montford Point in Jacksonville, North Carolina, during the 1940s and served in the Pacific theater of World War II. Narrated in the authentic voices of the Marines and featuring powerful imagery, this book provides a personal and moving account of the challenges they faced and overcame as pioneers in the US military during the Jim Crow era of widespread racial segregation and discrimination. The graphic history is accompanied by a highly accessible introduction to an inquiry-based approach to historical research and the methodology of oral history that empowers students to develop and conduct their own research projects in their communities. In addition, the book includes a brief overview of the historical context in which the Marines' stories unfold as well as a carefully chosen set of primary documents.
Contents
List of Maps
Preface
About the Authors and the Illustrator
Part I: The Graphic History
1: When I Grow Up
2: Where Hell Starts
3: Black Marines in Jim Crow America
4: Let the Mosquitoes Eat
5: All of Them Are Legendary
6: A 17-Year-Old Kid with a .45 Pistol
7: Aftermaths and Legacies
Part II: Starting a Research Project
Introduction
Defining Questions
Building a Critical Bibliography
Part III: Historical Context
Jim Crow America
African Americans and the US Military During the Second World War
Montford Point Camp and the First Black Marines
Montford Pointers in the Pacific Theater of Operations
The Tensions of Masculinity
Looking Both Forward and Backward
Part IV: Oral History: Applying a Research Methodology
Oral History as Method
Oral History and Memory
Oral History as a Community Act
Our Approaches and Experiences
Part V: Interpretation
What Is the Job of the Historian in Interpretation?
Critical Analysis
Narrative Structures and Shared Experiences
Analytical Moments: Hearing Individual Messages
Interpreting through Comics: Choices and Debates
Part VI: Primary Sources
Executive Order 8802 (1941)
Letter of Instruction No. 421 (1943)
The Pittsburgh Courier, "The Courier's Double 'V' for a Double Victory Campaign Gets Country-wide Support" (1942)
H. R. 2447, An Act to Grant the Congressional Gold Medal to the Montford Point Marines (2011)
Part VII: Questions to Consider
Constructing a Usable Narrative
Examining Multiple Interpretations
Critically Investigating the Research Methodology
Engaging with the Original Video Footage
Reflecting
Glossary
