WW2 Segregated Army photo at Fort Lewis - pre-Civil Rights era for Sale

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WW2 Segregated Army photo at Fort Lewis - pre-Civil Rights era For Sale

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WW2 Segregated Army photo at Fort Lewis - pre-Civil Rights era:
$250.00

Historical photograph if segregated army troops at Fort lewis, WA.
I am not sure which it is, but the African American units at South Fort Lewis included the 55th Ordnance Company; 2nd Battalion, 47th Quartermaster Regiment; 563rd Quartermaster Service Battalion; and transportation units. Some became known in the Negro Leagues baseball teams and the Harlem Globetrotters. Interesting piece of history almost lost, as you can see this photograph was almost destroyed at some point. Since I\'ve had it, I\'ve kept it out of the light and with a cardboard backing and in a mylar sleeve to prevent any additional damage for this historical image.
Size is roughly 8.5 x11 but is uneven.
Shipped protected in layers of cardboard.
ABOUT FORT LEWIS:During World War II, Fort Lewis expanded greatly with the addition of three new cantonments. North Fort Lewis was erected across Highway 99 (today Interstate 5) from the existing fort. Another, near Camp Murray, became Northeast Fort Lewis. On the south side near the DuPont Gate (today at Exit 119 of Interstate 5), South Fort Lewis was established. It had 110 wood-frame temporary mobilization buildings constructed in 1941. This cantonment was a separate camp for black soldiers and included typical two-story barracks, mess halls, administrative buildings, recreation center, theater, and service club.

South Fort Lewis had a separate black chapel. It was dedicated on Thanksgiving Day, 1941, in a ceremony that included the famous black athlete, baritone singer, and political activist Paul Robeson (1898-1976). A banquet and reception followed the dedication, with black clergymen from Seattle and Portland as special guests. Paul Robeson also gave afternoon concerts at McChord Field and Fort Lewis. The performances featured his popular songs \"Ol\' Man River\" and \"I Got Plenty of Nuttin\'.\" Paul Robeson would become a noted civil rights activist and a controversial figure.

The units at South Fort Lewis included the 55th Ordnance Company; 2nd Battalion, 47th Quartermaster Regiment; 563rd Quartermaster Service Battalion; and transportation units. To aid morale and cohesiveness, an extensive sports program was instituted. The 55th Ordnance black softball team won 50 of its 54 games in 1941. There were also black football teams, including the Staging Area Streaks and the Brown Bombers.

A few blacks were allowed to play on the main Fort Lewis teams. Ford Smith (1919-1983), a right-handed pitcher, won games for the Fort Lewis Warriors baseball team in 1942 before going on to flight school. Following the war, Smith was a leading pitcher on the Negro League\'s Kansas City Monarchs and later director of the Arizona Civil Rights Commission.

Jonas Gaines (1915-1998), who had played for the National Colored League\'s Baltimore Elite Giants, was an outstanding left-handed pitcher for the 1943 Fort Lewis Warriors. Lucius Dennis (1924-2004), a former Harlem Globetrotter, played center on the 1944-1945 Warrior basketball team. This limited sports integration in the military preceded and set an example for integration in the civilian sports world.

In 1950 a black unit, the 3rd Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, was stationed at South Fort Lewis. By June 1950 the Fort Lewis military population, including all the cantonments, housed 20,000 soldiers, with blacks comprising 30 percent of the total. The post was moving to integrate its facilities there, but it was the Korean War and the need for a more effective structure that led to the end of segregation. The 2nd Infantry Division with its black 3rd Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, was the first division to ship out for Korea. The 9th Regiment was quickly integrated and had a distinguished war record.

After the shipping out of the 2nd Infantry Division to the Korea War, South Fort Lewis was closed. The underused buildings were demolished in the 1960s.