0.2 The great war (part i)  (Page 12/14)

Much of the 369 ^th consisted of a popular band led by James Reese Europe. Europe was promoted to Lieutenant and this band leader was also the highest ranking black soldier in the unit.

The federal government created a new officer training school in Iowa where over 1,000 African-American men received commissions as officers for the war. The country’s first black graduate of the US Military Academy West Point, Charles Young who saw combat in Cuba, the Philippines, Haiti and Mexico was not allowed to command troops in Europe.

Many prominent African-Americans joined the military to include Napoleon Marshall, Spotswood Poles, and James Reese Europe. Poles was a well-known and very talented centerfielder for the New York Lincoln Giants (a Harlem-located baseball team in the Negro League). But Reese was probably the most nationally-known African-American. Reese was a Harlem bandleader and possibly the most popular song writer of the early twentieth century. His music inspired new dance steps, led to the creation of new night clubs, and almost single-handedly developed dancing as a popular form of entertainment among young people. In 1914, Europe’s orchestra (usually known as Europe’s Society Orchestra) became the first black band to record commercially in the United States. The orchestra’s benefactors, Vernon and Irene Castle, aligned the new dance steps in accordance with Europe’s syncopated music and thus social dancing was born. When the men of the 369 ^th mustered out of the service in early 1919, Europe began writing and recording popular songs that capitalized on his war-time experiences. Songs such “On Patrol In No Man's Land” evoked feelings of patriotism while under fire from a German mortar barrage

Europe will not live long enough to capitalize on his post-war fame. In early May of 1919, just days after Reese and his band completed a grueling recording session for Pathe Records, the group was playing a live performance in Boston when an argument developed between Europe and one of his drummers, Herbert Wright. Wright whipped out a knife and stabbed Europe in the neck. Europe died at the hospital. Newspapers reported the loss with the banner “Jazz King is Dead”. Reese was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

It is unclear why Reese enlisted in the New York National Guard. Maybe it was patriotism. Maybe he heard the call from such black leaders as W.E.B. Du Bois. Du Bois believed that blacks had a duty to serve in the military as a way of demonstrating their intelligence, bravery, and patriotism to white Americans. Thus, Du Bois publicly called upon African Americans to enlist, fight and if necessary lay down their lives for the United States. “If this is our country,” said Du Bois, “then this is our war. We must fight it with every ounce of blood and treasure.”

African-Americans also supported the war effort as civilians, such as Emmett J. Scott. Scott spent most of his career working for the NAACP, to include eighteen years as the private secretary of Booker T. Washington. When the US declared war on Germany, President Wilson wanted a spokesman for Black troops in the War Department and thus Scott became a special assistant to Newton Baker, the Secretary of War, overseeing the recruitment, training, and overall morale of Africa-American troops.