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 Southern Mississippi (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. Bristol’s presentation, “War As Labor: Mechanization, Mobilization, and the Changing Role of Black GIs in World War II”, 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 GI’s 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.

“My 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,” explained Dr. Bristol.

“Political 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.”

Dr. Bristol is a Fellow in USM’s 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. Bristol’s work is also featured in the PBS documentary “Boss: The Black Experience in Business.”

Learn more about Dr. Douglas Bristol’s lecture.