1st Edition
Freedom to Serve Truman, Civil Rights, and Executive Order 9981
On the eve of America’s entry into World War II, African American leaders pushed for inclusion in the war effort and, after the war, they mounted a concerted effort to integrate the armed services. Harry S. Truman’s decision to issue Executive Order 9981 in 1948, which resulted in the integration of the armed forces, was an important event in twentieth century American history.
In Freedom to Serve, Jon E. Taylor gives an account of the presidential order as an event which forever changed the U.S. armed forces, and set a political precedent for the burgeoning civil rights movement. Including press releases, newspaper articles, presidential speeches, and biographical sidebars, Freedom to Serve introduces students to an under-examined event while illuminating the period in a new way.
For additional documents, images, and resources please visit the Freedom to Serve companion website at www.routledge.com/cw/criticalmoments
Chapter One Civil Rights and Segregation during the War
Chapter Two Civil Rights and Segregation after the War
Chapter Three President Truman Responds
Chapter Four To Secure These Rights
Chapter Five Freedom to Serve
Chapter Six The Legacy of To Secure These Rights and Freedom to Serve
Documents
The Negroes’ Historical and Contemporary Role in National Defense November 1940
Statement by President Franklin D. Roosevelt ca. 1940
Survey and Recommendations concerning the integration of the Negro soldier into the army, September, 22, 1941
A. Philip Randolph to Harry S. Truman December 10, 1947
Memo from Committee Against Jim Crow in Military Service and Training to Harry S. Truman March 22, 1948
Utilization of Negro Manpower in the Postwar Army Policy, Circular No. 124 April 27, 1946
Testimony of A. Philip Randolph before the Senate Armed Services Committee March 31, 1948 "Civil Disobedience"
President’s Civil Rights Message on the Armed Forces May 11, 1948
A. Philip Randolph to Harry S. Truman [Telegram] July 16, 1948
A. Philip Randolph to Rev. J. Raymond Henderson August 24, 1948
Remarks to President’s Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services, January 12, 1949.
Negro in the Army April 28, 1949
Air Force Press Release May 11, 1949
Press Release Secretary Johnson Approves Navy Proposals, June 7, 1949
Press Release Army Program for Racial Equality approved by Secretary of Defense, September 30, 1949
Charles Fahy memo to H.S.T. December 14, 1949
A. Philip Randolph to Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson January 13, 1950
A. Philip Randolph to Charles Wesley Burton April 7, 1950
Statement by President on the Committee’s Report, May 22, 1950
Freedom to Serve May 22, 1950
Mr. Jonas Schwartz to Hubert H. Humphrey January 22, 1951
A. Philip Randolph to Jonas Schwartz January 24, 1951
Biography
Taylor, Jon
In Freedom to Serve, Jon E. Taylor traces the development of civil rights policy in the American military from the World War II era to the present, focusing on the civil rights campaigns that pressured the Franklin D. Roosevelt and Truman administrations for faster and greater change. Better yet, he does so in a way that shows students how a historian works and encourages them to think through historical problems themselves with the primary source documents he includes--some of them well-known, others previously obscure. Freedom to Serve is a terrific teaching tool.
J. Todd Moye author of Freedom Flyers: The Tuskegee Airmen of World War II
