Harlem Hellfighters Regimental Band
Immigration and Migration
The Fifteenth Infantry Regiment (Colored) of the New York National Guard—popularly known as the "Harlem Hellfighters"—was formed in Harlem in 1916 to help the U.S. war effort during World War I. One of its members, James Reese Europe, was charged with the task of forming a regiment band. Europe, a seasoned musician and bandleader, convinced his commanding officer to let him expand the normal size of a regiment band and to make a special recruiting visit to Puerto Rico. By the time the regiment deployed for France in late 1917, nearly one half of the 40-piece band was Puerto Rican. Once in Europe, they wowed British and French audiences unused to the syncopated rhythms in which the band's members specialized.<br /><br />The Hellfighters were also recognized for their bravery on the battlefield, and many of them were awarded the French <em>croix de guerre</em>, or war cross, for distinguished service. When the war ended, the Harlem Hellfighters received a hero’s welcome as the first New York regiment to parade as veterans of the Great War. After the war, one of the band’s members, Rafael Hernández MarÃn, went on to become arguably the most important composer of Puerto Rican popular music in the 20th century.
Unknown
U.S. War Department, "[African American] Jazz Band and Leader Back with [African American] 15th New York," Underwood & Underwood, 1919, American Unofficial Collection of World War I Photographs, 1917-1918, Record Group 165, National Archives, https://research.archives.gov/id/533506.
Modern America (1914-1929)
Background Essay on Why They Fought
Slavery and Abolition
This essay explores the motivations of soldiers on both sides of the U.S. Civil War.
American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning
2015
ASHP
Civil War and Reconstruction (1861-1877)
Analysis Worksheet: "Colored Troops Under General Wild, liberating slaves in North Carolina"
This worksheet helps students analyze an 1864 sketch of African-American troops, many of whom were former slaves, liberating slaves on a North Carolina plantation.
American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning
American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning, 2011.
American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning
2011
Copyright American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning
<div><a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/"><img style="border-width:0" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-nd/3.0/88x31.png" alt="Creative Commons License" /></a><br />This work is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License</a>.</div>
1767, 1387
English
Civil War and Reconstruction (1861-1877)
Analysis Worksheet: Before-and-After Photographs of a Union Recruit
This worksheet helps students analyze Civil War photographs of a former slave who joined the Union military.
American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning
American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning, 2011.
American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning
2011
Copyright American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning
<div><a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/"><img style="border-width:0" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-nd/3.0/88x31.png" alt="Creative Commons License" /></a><br />This work is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License</a>.</div>
1065, 1387
English
Civil War and Reconstruction (1861-1877)
"Colored Troops under General Wild, liberating slaves in North Carolina"
In this journalistic sketch, a group of African American soldiers liberates a plantation in eastern North Carolina. The troops were the so-called "African Brigade" composed of black recruits from Massachusetts and newly freed contraband slaves from Union-occupied territories of North Carolina. Like all black troops in the Civil War, the African Brigade was led by a white officer, in this case an abolitionist from Massachusetts. Although some Northerners doubted whether freedmen would make effective soldiers, Union officers in the area reported that "recruiting for the African Brigade is progressing lively and enthusiastically...Quite a recruiting fever has seized the freedmen of [New Bern]...Four thousand colored soldiers are counted upon in this [district]." Another officer wrote "One can hardly forget the enthusiasm amongst the negroes of this place..."
Unknown
<em>Harper's Weekly</em> (Jan. 23, 1864), p. 52; available from <em>The Atlantic Slave Trade and Slave Life in the Americas</em>, Image Reference HW0022.
American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning
1864
<em><a href="http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/Slavery/Conditions.php" target="_blank">The Atlantic Slave Trade and Slave Life in the Americas</a></em>.
1778, 1387
English
Civil War and Reconstruction (1861-1877)
A Union Army General Describes the Impact of Contraband Slaves
In the testimony that follows, a general tells Congress how contraband slaves served his army and had a dramatic impact on the way Union soldiers thought about slavery and freedom.
Daniel E. Sickles
Testimony of General Daniel E. Sickles before the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, 37th [U.S.] Congress, Third Session, 1862.
American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning
1862
English
Civil War and Reconstruction (1861-1877)
A Union Army General Describes the Impact of Contraband Slaves (with text supports)
In the testimony that follows, a general tells Congress how contraband slaves served his army and had a dramatic impact on the way Union soldiers thought about slavery and freedom.
Daniel E. Sickles
Testimony of General Daniel E. Sickles before the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, 37th [U.S.] Congress, Third Session, 1862.
American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning
1862
English
Civil War and Reconstruction (1861-1877)
"In Defense of My Race and Country": African-American Soldiers on Why They Are Fighting
Slavery and Abolition
Civil Rights and Citizenship
In this activity students read three letters written by African-American soldiers during the Civil War to determine why black soldiers felt compelled to join the Union Army.
American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning
American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning, 2009.
American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning
2009
Copyright American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning
<div><br /><div><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/"></a><br />This work is licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License</a>.</div>
</div>
English
Civil War and Reconstruction (1861-1877)
A Revolutionary Veteran Describes African-American Soldiers
A white veteran of the Revolutionary War, known only as "Dr. Harris," delivered this speech before the Congregational and Presbyterian Anti-Slavery Society in New Hampshire in 1842.
Dr. Harris
In William Cooper Nell, <em>The Colored Patriots of the American Revolution</em> (1855; reprint, New York: Arno, 1968), 128-131.
American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning
1842
English
Speech
Revolution and New Nation (1751-1815)
"Colored Citizens, To Arms!"
This 1864 poster was used to recruit African-American soldiers for the 20th Regiment, U.S. Colored Troops, a Union Army regiment based in New York state. The poster offers the lure of an up-front payment of $375 plus an additional $10 for anyone signing up, but likely more persuasive was the sentiment borne by the stern-looking eagle: "Who would be Free, Himself must Strike the Blow!" Such recruitment efforts were met with an enthusiastic reception by African-American men of fighting age, with thousands enlisting after legislation was passed allowing them to serve in 1863.
Francis & Loutrel
Recruiting Poster, 20th Regiment, U.S. Colored Troops, c. 1864, broadside, ink on paper (New York: Francis & Loutrel, Stationers & Steam Printers).
American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning
1864 (Circa)
English
Poster/Print
Civil War and Reconstruction (1861-1877)