"Colored Man Is Eager to Show His Mettle and Do His Bit"

[African Americana]: [World War I]:

Our Colored Heroes [caption title].

Chicago: E.G. Renesch, 1918. Chromolithograph, 11.75 x 15.75 inches. Moderate surface wear, a few closed tears, and significant insect damage in the image area costing about a half-inch by four-inch section in the center of the image. Trimmed, especially along the top margin. Fair condition only, and priced accordingly. Item #13008

A stunning chromolithograph produced to commemorate the heroism of Henry Johnson and Needham Roberts, two African American soldiers of the 369th Regiment's "Harlem Hellfighters" during World War I. The two soldiers were stationed as guards in a French sector when a powerful German raiding party of two dozen men arrived, and Johnson and Roberts managed to fight them off despite their inferior military equipment. The present scene shows each of the men fighting off German soldiers, one at upper left bayoneting a German soldier and one at center-right sticking a knife into the chest of another German soldier (sadly part of the insect damage to the middle of the scene).  A U.S. flag waves proudly in the distance behind the soldiers.

The story of the bravery of Henry Johnson and Needham Roberts is told here at the bottom left, printed inside a shield. Titled "Honored as Heroes. Henry Johnson Needham Roberts. Cited for Bravery and Receive Croix de Guerre. Colored Man Is Eager to Show His Mettle and Do His Bit." The story is then detailed through "General Pershing's Communique" of May 19, 1918. The two soldiers were cited for bravery and presented with the French Croix de Guerre, two of the first Americans to receive this particular award. Johnson was never recognized by his own government for his heroism during his lifetime. He died young in 1929 and was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart in 1932 and then the Medal of Honor almost a century after his service, by President Barack Obama in 2015. Roberts was also awarded a Purple Heart in 1932, and died in 1949.

A wounded example of a truly wonderful celebration of African American heroism during the First World War. Rare, with only three institutional holdings per OCLC, at Harvard, Texas A&M, and the Pritzker Military Library.

Price: $850