1918

Representative Leonidas Dyer of Missouri introduced federal anti-lynching legislation in 1918, backed by the NAACP. The bill would have made lynching a federal crime and held counties financially liable for lynchings occurring within their borders. After years of NAACP lobbying, the House passed the Dyer Bill in 1922 by 230 to 119. Southern Democratic senators filibustered it to death. The Senate's failure to pass anti-lynching legislation — which was attempted over 200 times in the 20th century and never succeeded until 2022 — is one of the most deliberate institutional failures in American legislative history.

Mary Turner, eight months pregnant, was lynched by a mob in Lowndes County, Georgia after publicly objecting to her husband Hayes Turner's lynching the previous day and threatening to press charges. She was hung upside down, doused in gasoline and motor oil, burned, then her abdomen was slashed open and her nearly full-term fetus was removed and stomped on. She was one of at least eight Black people killed in a week in that county. Her case became a cause célèbre for anti-lynching campaigners; the NAACP used her murder as Exhibit A in their lobbying for federal legislation.

The 369th Infantry Regiment — composed almost entirely of Black New Yorkers and Harlem residents — spent 191 consecutive days under fire in France, the longest of any American unit. They fought under French command after the US Army refused to integrate them with white units. They never retreated, never had a prisoner taken, and were collectively awarded the Croix de Guerre by France. Henry Johnson of the 369th became an American war hero celebrated in France, receiving the Medal of Honor posthumously in 2015. Their return parade up Fifth Avenue drew enormous crowds.

During WWI and extending into WWII, the American Red Cross maintained segregated blood banks, refusing to use blood donated by Black Americans to treat white soldiers, despite the scientific consensus that blood type determines compatibility. Dr. Charles Drew, a Black scientist who developed the blood bank system that saved hundreds of thousands of allied lives in WWII, resigned his position in protest. The Red Cross maintained racial segregation of blood supplies until 1950.

During WWI and extending into WWII, the American Red Cross maintained segregated blood banks, refusing to use blood donated by Black Americans to treat white soldiers. This policy was maintained despite the scientific consensus that blood type, not race, determined transfusion compatibility. Dr. Charles Drew, a Black scientist who developed the blood bank and plasma storage system that saved hundreds of thousands of allied lives in WWII, resigned his position in protest of the policy. The Red Cross maintained racial segregation of blood supplies until 1950.

Oscar Micheaux founded the Micheaux Book and Film Company in 1918, becoming the first major Black film producer and director in the United States. His film 'Within Our Gates' (1920) directly responded to 'The Birth of a Nation' by depicting lynching from the Black perspective. Micheaux produced approximately 44 films between 1919 and 1948.

Black WWI veterans who were wounded or disabled received care in segregated wards of military hospitals that were documented as receiving less equipment, fewer skilled staff, and worse food than white wards. When veterans returned home, VA facilities in the South were either entirely white or provided inferior segregated care. The Veterans Bureau (predecessor to the VA) applied Jim Crow throughout its Southern operations. A separate Black veterans' hospital was eventually established at Tuskegee, Alabama in 1923 — as a segregated institution, not as a remedy for inequality.

Oscar Micheaux, a Black novelist and filmmaker, founded the Micheaux Book and Film Company in 1918, becoming the first major Black film producer and director in the United States. His films — including 'The Homesteader' (1919) and 'Within Our Gates' (1920), the latter directly responding to 'The Birth of a Nation' by depicting lynching from the Black perspective — provided alternative representations of Black life and history to counter the racist caricatures dominant in white Hollywood. Micheaux produced approximately 44 films between 1919 and 1948.

Private Henry Johnson of the 369th Infantry single-handedly fought off a German raiding party of approximately 20 soldiers, killing four and wounding several more while himself severely wounded, rescuing a fellow soldier. France awarded him the Croix de Guerre with Gold Palm — their highest honor. The US Army gave him nothing. He returned home to poverty, alcoholism, and disability without receiving a single American decoration despite being celebrated as a war hero by French and American media. President Obama awarded him the Medal of Honor in 2015, 97 years after his actions.

Private Henry Johnson single-handedly fought off approximately 20 German soldiers, killing four and rescuing a fellow soldier while severely wounded. France awarded him the Croix de Guerre with Gold Palm. The US Army gave him nothing. He returned home to poverty and disability without receiving a single American decoration. President Obama awarded him the Medal of Honor in 2015, 97 years after his actions.

The US Army's headquarters in France distributed a secret document titled 'Secret Information Concerning Black American Troops' to French military officers and civilian officials, explaining American racial hierarchy and requesting that the French not associate with Black soldiers as social equals, not commend them too highly, and not allow French women to socialize with them. The document stated that 'the vices of the negro are a constant menace to the American who has to repress them sternly.' The NAACP obtained and published the document, using it as evidence of the Army's institutional racism.

The US Army's headquarters in France distributed a secret document titled 'Secret Information Concerning Black American Troops' to French military officers, explaining American racial hierarchy and requesting that French officials not associate with Black soldiers as social equals, not commend them highly, and not allow French women to socialize with them. The NAACP obtained and published the document, using it as evidence of the Army's institutional racism.