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World War II

Double V

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You had a white water fountain, and a black water fountain. And a black would get into trouble if he went and drank at the white water fountain. My friend at Brookley Field had his head busted wide open because he drank at the white fountain.

— John Gray, THE WAR

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Background:�

  • During World War II, African Americans found themselves with conflicting feelings about supporting the war effort, since their own country did not offer them the freedom America was fighting for overseas. The Double Victory — Double V — campaign, begun by the Pittsburgh Courier newspaper in 1942, helped to address this issue. It encouraged African Americans to participate at every level in winning the war abroad, while simultaneously fighting for their civil rights at home.

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Divide Into Groups

1) What was the legal status of segregation in 1941?

(http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aaworld/timeline/building_01.html )

2) What was Executive Order 8802? What were President

Roosevelt’s stated reasons for ending discrimination in the defense industry? (http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=72 )

  1. What contributions had African Americans made to previous wars in U.S. history? (http://www.defenselink.mil/home/features/2007/BlackHistoryMonth/Timeline.html )
  2. What organizations existed in 1941 to fight discrimination against African Americans?

(http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aaworld/timeline/building_01.html )

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You and your group will answer the question and report back to class.

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Activity 1: Listening to the Voices of African Americans�

  • How could individual African Americans best further their own quest for equal rights during World War II?

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As you watch, create a chart with each speaker’s name along with his or her personal information, role in the war and reasons for or against participation.

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Reflection questions

  • Whose viewpoint comes closest to representing your personal view. For example, do you agree with John Hope Franklin who decided that his country did not deserve his service? Do you agree with Barbara Covington that it was best to “make the best of it” and work in a segregated army base?
  • Do you think that participation in the war effort would help or hinder African Americans’ quest for civil rights after the war?
  • Did African Americans have to make an absolute choice between fighting for their own rights or fighting to win the war? Were there any compromises that could be made to further both efforts? If so, what were they the best strategies to use during wartime?

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Activity 2: Learning About the �Double V Campaign�

  • Target: learn about a campaign started by an African-American newspaper, the Pittsburgh Courier, which helped African Americans to African Americans in World War II:

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  • Learning Plan:
  • Distribute one of the following two articles: “Pittsburgh Courier” and “Treason?” from The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords (http://www.pbs.org/blackpress ).

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Answer the following questions after reading your assigned article.�

Questions for “Pittsburgh Courier”

1. When was the Pittsburgh Courier founded? Who were its three main editors? Who were some of its famous writers?

2. List at least five things the Courier wanted to improve about black life in America in the 1930s and 1940s.

3. Which goal do you think deserved the most effort and attention, and why?

4. What was the Double V campaign?

5. List at least four tactics used by the Pittsburgh Courier to fight for the rights of African Americans.

6. In your opinion, which of these tactics was likely to be most effective, and why?

Questions for “Treason?”

1. Who thought up the idea for the Double V campaign?

2. What did the symbol of the Double V stand for?

3. List at least four of the ways the campaign was publicized.

4. In your opinion, which of these approaches was likely to be most effective, and why?

5. What injustices did the Double V campaign bring to light during World War II?

6. What did the Double V campaign accomplish?

7. Why did J. Edgar Hoover call the Double V campaign an act of treason?

8. Do you think the Double V campaign was treasonous? Why or why not?

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  • Think about how the Double V campaign made African Americans (like those interviewed in the film) feel at the time. How did it help them to resolve the inherent conflict of fighting for a country that did not grant them the full rights of citizenship?

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News Committee 1 writes articles about the home front�from a black perspective. Colton

History and impact of Executive Order 8802.

Segregation in the Alabama Dry Dock workforce and its

outcome.

The status of lynching in America and the anti-lynching bills submitted to congress.

The role of black organizations in fighting for rights during the war: Urban League, the NAACP, Alpha Kappa

Alpha Sorority, etc.

Race riots in East St. Louis, Illinois and elsewhere.

Port Chicago Mutiny (1944): After a huge explosion at a munitions depot, black enlistees stand up for safety on the job.

Contributions of African American women to the work of civilian defense, selling war bonds and other work on the home front. These websites provide examples of articles written as part of the Double V campaign:

Charlotta Bass and the California Eagle (http://www.socallib.org/bass/index.html) For a list of downloadable articles written by Charlotta Bass at this site go to:

(http://www.socallib.org/bass/research/eagle/articles/index.html)

Newspapers: The Pittsburgh Courier

(http://www.pbs.org/blackpress/news_bios/courier.html )

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News Article Committee 2 - writes articles about the armed services in the European, North African, and Pacific theaters of war from a black perspective. Jesse

Tuskegee airmen, the only black pilots trained to fly in the war.

Black engineers and soldiers in the Pacific; their role in building landing strips, etc. Black men (1942) and black women (1944) admitted to the U.S. Navy, and black males to the Marines (1942).

Black anti-aircraft battalion’s a critical role in the D-Day invasion of France.

Blacks fighting in integrated units during the Battle of the Bulge (1944) under General George Patton.

For an on-line sources of information go to:

African Americans in the U.S. Army During World War II

(https://www.denix.osd.mil/denix/Public/ESPrograms/Conservation/Legacy/AAME/aame4.html ),

African American Navy, Marine Corps, Women’s Reserves, and Coast Guard Service During World War II at (https://www.denix.osd.mil/denix/Public/ES-Programs/Conservation/Legacy/AAME/aame3a.html) both from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

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Radio Committee produces a program including jingles for the Double V campaign, the latest jazz recordings, and profiles of famous African Americans of the day. Marissa

Joe Louis undefeated heavyweight champion (1941).

Dorie Miller honored for service at Pearl Harbor (1941).

Dr. Robert C. Weaver, advisor to FDR.

Singer Marion Anderson.

Singer and activist Paul Robeson.

Original songs and catchy jingles to publicize the Double V campaign

Students can listen to live radio broadcasts for ideas at The Golden Age of Radio

(http://www.archive.org/details/worldwarIInewsOTRKIBM) from the Internet Archive.

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Photography Exhibit Committee 1 creates an exhibition about African Americans on the Home Front - lacey

Create and display a photography exhibit about African Americans on the home front. Accompany the displayed images with student-written captions and short essays that help the viewer interpret the photographs. Alternatively the committee members can become docents who give visitors a tour of the exhibit.

Sources of Information:

African American Odyssey of the Library of Congress at (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/exhibit/aopart8.html )

Virginia Center for Digital History, World War II The Home Front (http://www.vcdh.virginia.edu/solguide/VUS11/essay11b.html)

From Life on the Home Front, “A Matter of Color: African Americans Face Discrimination” from the Oregon State Archives (http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/exhibits/ww2/life/minority.htm)

Source for Photographs: National Archives Pictures of African Americans During World War II at (http://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/ww2-pictures) sections on Rest and Relaxation and The Home Front.

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Photography Exhibit Committee 2: African Americans at War - harley�

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Visual Publicity Committee produces banners, posters, stickers, buttons, and articles of fashion to publicize the campaign. - Alicia

  • Design two posters for the Double V campaign, one about African Americans on the home front and another to encourage blacks to enlist in the armed forces.
  • Produce two banners that convey the patriotic message of the Double V campaign and what it means to America and African Americans.
  • Manufacture buttons or stickers for people to wear that show the wearer’s support for the Double V campaign and what it means.
  • Design two items that someone can wear to demonstrate their support of the Double V campaign (caps, headbands, watchbands, bracelets, etc.)
  • For visual sources of information go to
  • Posters from the WPA 1936-1943 at the American Memory Website (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaposters/wpahome.html)
  • “Black Wings” at the Smithsonian Institution (http://www.nasm.si.edu/blackwings/hdetail/detailbw.cfm?bwID=BW0034)
  • “Civil Rights of Minorities” from Wessels Living History Farm : (http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe40s/life_18.html)

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Comparisons Committee - Hayden

Have students write a research paper comparing the African-American experience with that of other minorities in American society during World War II. For example you might compare the race riots in Mobile, Alabama, to the Zoot Suit riots against imported Mexican labor in California in the 1940s (www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/zoot/against ). Or you could compare the ways Puerto Rican workers gained work in war industries through Operation Bootstrap (1944) to the employment of African Americans.