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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: 308th Quartermaster, 1st Division
  • Location of Service: European Theater; Normandy, France; Northern France; Ardennes; Rhineland, Germany
  • Highest Rank: Private First Class

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"And after seeing this situation in this death camp […] I felt like I had been given a second life. And when I returned home, I was going to spend the rest of my life working for peace and justice…" (38:09)

Timuel Black was not happy about being drafted into the army in 1943, so much so that he sent back his first draft notice, claiming that he didn’t have an Uncle Sam. As part of the 308th Quartermaster Unit, 1st Division, he participated in the Normandy invasion, the Battle of the Bulge, and marched down the Champs-Elysees in Paris on V-E Day. Black was forever changed by his visit to Auschwitz shortly after the camp was liberated. He also witnessed and endured intense racial discrimination during his service, experiences that strengthened his commitment to social justice and led him to pursue community organizing and local politics in his adopted hometown of Chicago.

Timuel D. Black, Jr. Collection
Interview / Recording

Transcript: XML

More Resources

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[ Honorable Discharge and Report of Separation ]

About this Item

Title

  • Timuel D. Black, Jr. Collection

Names

  • Black, Timuel
  • Donna Chafins
  • National Court Reporters Association (NCRA)
  • Richardson, Lorene
  • Black Jr., Timuel D.

State of Birth

  • AL

Home State

  • IL

Headings

  • -  Black Jr., Timuel D.
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Repository

  • Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Gender

  • Male

Race

  • Black or African American

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Unit of Service: 308th Quartermaster, 1st Division
    • Location of Service: European Theater; Normandy, France; Northern France; Ardennes; Rhineland, Germany
    • Highest Rank: Private First Class
    • Entrance into Service: Drafted
    • Military Status: Veteran

Materials

  • Manuscript: Military papers (orders, personnel/201 files, etc) [2 items] -- Typewritten document (collected unknown)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 07/08/2005)
  • Computer File: Floppy Disk [1 item] -- Electronic file of manuscript (collected 07/08/2005)
  • Audio: Audio Cassette [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 06/06/2005)
  • Audio: Audio Cassette [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2003)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/10648

Cite as

  • Timuel D. Black, Jr. Collection (AFC/2001/001/10648), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • audio
  • online text
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

Using VHP Material in Publication or Exhibition

The Veterans History Project (VHP) at the Library of Congress collects, preserves and makes accessible the firsthand recollections of U.S. military veterans who served from World War I through more recent conflicts and peacekeeping missions, so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand what they saw, did and felt during their service. The Veterans History Project Collection includes oral histories along with documentary materials such as original letters, diaries, photographs, and memoirs.

Veterans and interviewers contribute these materials to the Library for scholarly and educational purposes, retaining any copyright they may hold. Therefore, permission must be obtained before using the interview or other materials in exhibition or publication. Researchers or others who would like to make further use of these materials should contact the Veterans History Project for assistance.

As a publicly supported institution, the Library generally does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot give or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute material in its collections. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item from the Library’s collections and for securing any necessary permissions rests with persons desiring to use the item.

Please contact us with questions.

Obtaining Copies of VHP Materials

In order for VHP materials to be duplicated, we must receive written permission from the interviewee for you to obtain a copy of the recording unless the proposed use is limited to personal use, research, or other uses permissible by copyright law. If the interviewee is deceased, their next-of-kin may grant written permission.

Please contact VHP for assistance if you need to contact a veteran for permission to use their materials in exhibition or publication, or if you have received permission from the veteran and need access to high-resolution copies of VHP collection materials.

Citing VHP Materials

Please use the following formats when citing Veterans History Project materials (substituting the appropriate name and collection ID number).

Materials as a whole:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Manuscript material:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Memoirs (MS02), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Transcript (MS04), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Correspondence (MS01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Recording:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Audio recording (SR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Video recording (MV01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Photograph:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Photographs (PH01), photographer unknown, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Photographs (PH03-PH14), Ralph Williams photographer, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Computer file:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Computer file (CF01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Artifact:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Artifact (AR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Black, Timuel, Donna Chafins, National Court Reporters Association, Lorene Richardson, and Timuel D Black Jr. Timuel D. Black, Jr. Collection. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.10648/.

APA citation style:

Black, T., Donna Chafins, National Court Reporters Association, Richardson, L. & Black Jr, T. D. Timuel D. Black, Jr. Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.10648/.

MLA citation style:

Black, Timuel, et al. Timuel D. Black, Jr. Collection. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.10648/>.