Franklin Roosevelt, African Americans and the coming of World War II -- Politics and the quest for an integrated military, 1937-1945 -- Harry Truman and civil rights, 1884-1945 -- Post-war utilization of the military and the creation of the President's Committee on Civil rights, 1945-1947 -- Politics and the President's Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services, 1948-1953 -- Historians debate Truman's civil rights record -- Bibliography -- Primary documents
Summary
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 movem
