The War Effort

In 1942 Johnson began painting scenes of World War II. His paintings capture the experiences of black soldiers: leaving home, marching to camp, training for battle, and performing army chores. Johnson also painted a series of works illustrating the important contributions made by African Americans to the American Red Cross during the war.

Army Training

Soldiers Training

Ambulance on the Go

Off To War

Ask your relatives if they have any memories of World War II. If they do, pretend you are a reporter and conduct an interview. You can use a tape recorder or take written notes. Share the interview with your class and compare the experiences and memories of your classmates' relatives. You might be interested in visiting What did you do in the War, Grandma?, a collection of oral history interviews about World War II developed by a ninth grade Honors English class in Rhode Island.

While Johnson used paintings to describe the experiences of soldiers, other people used words to describe what it was like to be at war. The poem below was written in honor of African-American soldiers fighting in World War I. Can you find any other poems or songs that were written about war? Select one that you find meaningful and share it with your classmates.

Sonnet to Negro Soldiers
by Joseph Seaman Cotter, Jr.

They shall go down unto Life's Borderland,
Walk unafraid within that Living Hell,
Nor heed the driving rain of shot and shell
That round them falls; but with uplifted hand
Be one with mighty hosts, an armed band
Against man's wrong to man - for such full well
They know. And from their trembling lips shall swell
A song of hope the world can understand.
All this to them shall be a glorious sign,
A glimmer of that resurrection morn
When age-long faith, crowned with a grace benign,
Shall rise and from their brows cast down the thorn
Of prejudice. E'en though through blood it be,
There breaks this day their dawn of liberty.

TABLE OF CONTENTS || SAAM HOME || CHECKLIST