February 13, 2006
Black Heroes Close to Home
The recent passings of Rosa Parks and Coretta Scott King make this year’s Black History Month an especially meaningful celebration. In vivid news accounts and eloquent eulogies, we have been reminded of the amazing courage these two giants of the civil rights movement displayed. They were truly great Americans. They made our country better, fairer, and stronger.
It bears remembering, however, that the civil rights revolution of the 20th century also had many unsung heroes and uncelebrated foot-soldiers – ordinary people who made an extraordinary impact. We don’t always know their names, but we know that they made a difference.
A great example is the group of men who came to Fort Des Moines in 1917 to constitute the United States Army’s first African-American officer candidate class. When these African-American men assembled at Fort Des Moines, they did so during some of the darkest days of Jim Crow segregation. Beyond the church pulpit and the schoolhouse, there were few opportunities for the development of black leadership in this country.
After the war, African-American graduates of Fort Des Moines – many of them decorated combat veterans – returned to their communities throughout the nation. As former Army officers, they were looked up to as leaders and role models. And this infusion of credentialed black men – trained to command and accustomed to action –became a springboard for the civil rights movement of the late 1940s, 50s, and 60s.
In recent years, I have been pleased to secure federal funding to help transform the grounds of Fort Des Moines into a magnificent museum, the Fort Des Moines Memorial Park and Education Center. This museum is a world-class facility and international tourist attraction dedicated to honoring the first African-American officer candidate class in World War I and also the establishment of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps during World War II.
The first group of 436 women officer candidates – 36 of them African-American – began training at Fort Des Moines in 1942.
Tours of the Fort Des Moines Memorial Park and Education Center are available by appointment (call 1-888-828-FORT). It is a beautiful site, and a worthy tribute to the Fort Des Moines graduates who went on to lead our nation toward greater racial and gender equality.