An American and Nothing Else: The Great War and the Battle for National Belonging

Don’t Read American History—Make It!

“The Navy Needs You! Don’t Read American History—Make It!”. [ca. 1914–1918]. United States. Artist: James Montgomery Flagg. War Poster Collection, Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library.

Portrait of Harold Jackman by Carl Van Vechten. James Weldon Johnson Collection, Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

In March 1928, the Harlem socialite Harold Jackman wrote the War Department in search of “any pamphlet or booklet dealing with the enlistment, service or war record of negro soldiers of the World War.” While the Adjunct General’s Office was able to furnish him with general data about Black military service, they could not provide him with any official publications.

Reply to Harold Jackman from the Adjutant-General’s Office of the War Department. March 1, 1927. 

However, Jackman would have had at his disposable a growing number of volumes—penned by African American veterans, journalists, historians, novelists, and poets—chronicling and celebrating Black accomplishment and courage. These volumes challenged dominant assumptions that often questioned or downplayed the extent and quality of Black service. “Don’t Read American History—Make It!” insisted one iconic recruitment poster from the day. And indeed, the stories and glory contained in these pages contribute to a powerful counter-narrative of American history that locates African Americans at its center.  

Roscoe C. Jamison. Negro Soldiers (“These Truly Are the Brave”) and Other Poems. Kansas City: Press of The Gray Printing Company, 1918. 

Charles H. Williams (Charles Halston). Sidelights on Negro Soldiers. Introduction by Benjamin Brawley. First Edition, Boston: B.J. Brimmer Company, 1923.

W. Allison Sweeney (1851–1921). History of the American Negro in the Great World War... [Chicago: Printed by Cuneo-Henneberry Company, ca. 1919].