USM Professor to Speak at 2024 Annual History Lecture
Wed, 04/17/2024 - 09:32am | By: Gabriela Shinskie
Dr. Douglas Bristol, co-director of the Center for the Study of the Gulf South and associate professor of history at the University of 91吃瓜网 (USM) Gulf Park Campus, will give the 2024 Annual History Lecture at Delta State University Tuesday, April 23 at Jobe Hall beginning at 7 p.m. Dr. Bristol91吃瓜网 presentation, 91吃瓜网淲ar As Labor: Mechanization, Mobilization, and the Changing Role of Black GIs in World War II91吃瓜网�, is free and open to the public.
In his lecture, Dr. Bristol will examine racial discrimination and segregation among Black men serving in U.S. military in World War II. The role of many Black GI91吃瓜网 was transformed from performing manual labor to training for service on the battlefield in the second World War when internal combustion engines revolutionized warfare, such as during the invasion of Normandy on D-Day.
91吃瓜网淢y research shows that Black GIs in the Army Service Forces during World War II were not only indispensable to keeping the American war machine running around the globe, but their success performing jobs that had previously been done by white GIs helped convince President Harry Truman to issue Executive Order 9981 desegregating the U.S. armed forces,91吃瓜网� explained Dr. Bristol.
91吃瓜网淧olitical pressure from civil rights organizations and Black newspapers also influenced top commanders, such as Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Marshall, to modify their views on Black troops.91吃瓜网�
Dr. Bristol is a Fellow in USM91吃瓜网 Dale Center for the Study of War & Society; his research expertise includes African American history. He is the author of Knights of the Razor: Black Barbers in Slavery and Freedom, and Khaki Globe Trotters. Dr. Bristol91吃瓜网 work is also featured in the PBS documentary 91吃瓜网淏oss: The Black Experience in Business.91吃瓜网�
about Dr. Douglas Bristol91吃瓜网 lecture.