In December 1944, Harriet Pickens and Frances Wills became the first African American WAVE officers.

Medgar Evers was one of more than a million African Americans who served in the US military during World War II. He returned home only to face daily discrimination and paid the ultimate price for his fight against inequality.
 

The Museum highlights educational resources for teachers and students that can be used to explore Japanese American incarceration.

In the bloodiest  battle in Marine Corps history, 27 Marines and sailors were awarded the Medal of Honor for action on Iwo Jima. No other campaign surpassed that number.

C.L.R. James (1901-1989) called for mass resistance to Mussolini’s invasion of Ethiopia in 1935.

Edward Carter was one of seven African Americans who had their earlier awards upgraded to the Medal of Honor on January 13, 1997. Like all but one of the veterans, he did not live to see this honor.

After four years of cancelled celebrations, Mardi Gras returned in 1946. For the veteran flambeaux carriers—a dangerous and physically taxing job—the need for better wages resulted in a historic strike that caused “a post-war rude awakening.”

USS Mason was the first US Navy fleet vessel crewed by a majority of African American sailors.

In the four years of war, Americans on the home front were asked to do their part and to go without certain items for the sake of the war effort. For residents of New Orleans, World War II also meant going without Mardi Gras.

On February 3, 1945, the US Army sent over 800 black women overseas to England aboard the SS Ile de France. Their mission unknown to them.

This new series features master’s student papers from the University of New Orleans. The first submission delves into American memory of World War II.

Jackie Robinson is best known for breaking Major League Baseball’s color barrier. Less well known, but just as pivotal, is his 1944 court-martial after refusing to move to the back of a military bus.