A Black Army
A Black Army
$39.99
USDFrom 1941 to 1945, 30,000 African-American infantrymen were stationed at Fort Huachuca near the Mexican border. It was the only 'black post' in the country. Separated from white troops and civilian communities, these infantrymen were forced to accept the rules and discipline that the US Army, convinced of their racial inferiority, wanted to impose on them. Mistrustful of black soldiers, the Army feared mutiny and organized a harsh segregation that included strict confinement, control of the infantrymen during training and leisure, and the physical separation of white and black officers to diffuse any suggestion that equality of rank translated into social equality. In this book, available for the first time in English, Pauline Peretz uncovers America's tortuous relationship with its black soldiers against the backdrop of a war fought in the name of democracy.
- Reveals the untold story of the only all-black post during World War II
- Weaves rigorous archival analysis with lively storytelling to create a nuanced view of twentieth-century US racial politics
- Centers female testimonies among the male-dominated field of military training
Reviews & endorsements
‘A Black Army is a rewarding read. Focusing on Fort Huachuca, the largest Black training camp in US history, Peretz offers a deeply-researched, absorbing account of African American soldiers' day-to-day lives in America's World War II Army.' Tom Guglielmo, George Washington University
‘Recent years have treated historians to an ever richer and deeper treatment of the history of race, segregation and World War II. Where other scholars have offered sweeping narratives, Pauline Peretz zooms in on the little-told history of the all-Black US Army post in the open borderlands of southern Arizona – Fort Huachuca. There she finds a gem – a revelatory micro history of segregation during the war. Sensitive to every detail of the on-the-ground and day-to-day experiences of the men and women posted there – all from different regions and backgrounds – Peretz offers new insights into both the unexpected possibilities and harsh limitations that the war created for African American troops.' Jennifer Mittelstadt, Rutgers University
Product details
September 2025Hardback
9781009521499
352 pages
230 × 162 × 32 mm
0.65kg
Not yet published - available from August 2025
Table of Contents
- List of Figures
- Acknowledgements
- List of Acronyms
- Introduction: An Experiment in Race Relations
- 1. An All-Black Post in the Middle of the Arizona Desert
- 2. Fourteen Thousand Black Infantrymen
- 3. Separated by the Color Line
- 4. A State-of-the-Art All-Black Hospital
- 5. Fry: City of 'Vice'
- 6. A 'Plantation'?
- 7. Respectable Women
- 8. An Experiment in Integration
- 9. The First Departure
- 10. A Southern Ambiance
- 11. The Mecca of Entertainment?
- 12. Ready for Combat
- Conclusion: The Outcome of an Experiment
- Sources and Select Bibliography
- Index.
