Last month Professor of English and American Studies Richard Slotkin released his new book. Entitled “Lost Battalions: The Great War and the Crisis of American Nationality,” the book looks at racial discrimination and ethnic assimilation through the experiences of two American regiments fighting in World War I.
In “Lost Battalions,” Slotkin looks at the 77 Division, composed of Slavic, Italian, and Jewish immigrants who recently arrived through Ellis Island. He also studies the 369 Infantry, a group of black men from New York City and the Jim Crow South, who were also known as the Harlem Hellfighters. Regardless of the fact that none of the U.S. army troops were prepared to fight in 1917, when the European Allies were desperately in need of support, the partly-trained members of the 77 and 369 were volunteered to the French army.
Despite their incredible military exploits, neither battalion was fully recognized when they returned to the United States.
“The myth of a multicultural America was started by these guys, for these guys, but they were betrayed,” Slotkin told the Argus. “The government promised them equality because it needed the troops, but the men returned to an America where Jim Crow was still in place and laws were race-based.”
Slotkin’s first became interested in these two “lost battalions” when preparing for a film class he teaches called “Nationality and Power in the Movies.” Slotkin said he noticed that movies about WWI oftentimes tended to represent America as an ethnically mixed society, and he became interested in what had fed into these films.
“There are not too many movies about WWI because it is largely considered a failed war,” he said. “It’s like saying ‘Remember the Alamo’ except in this case no one knows what it is really referring to.”
When Slotkin came across literature on the 77 and 369 battalions, he knew he had found his subject.
Once he had identified his focus, Slotkin spent the next four years completing the research and writing for the book. One of the most memorable events during this time was his correspondence with Herman Johnson, whose father Henry had been a member of the 77 Infantry. Private Johnson was the first American soldier in WWI to be recognized with the Croix de Guerre from the French government.
“His is a tale of tragedy,” Slotkin said. “He died alone and poor at the age of 32; his family had completely lost track of him, and did not even know where he had been buried.”
Herman continued to fight for his father’s medal, eventually acquiring him a Purple Heart in 1996. Slotkin kept in touch with Herman until his recent death, and has recently sent several copies of his book to Herman’s daughter, whose sons are presently soldiers in Fallujah, Iraq.
Another noteworthy soldier of the 77 was James Reese Europe, a combat officer and band leader. Although the 77 Infantry was part of the New York National Guard, its men were not provided with adequate uniforms or weapons, so they decided to form a band and set out on a good-will tour to raise the necessary funds. The band is credited with introducing jazz into France, where the musicians were met with huge acclaim. Unfortunately, Europe died in 1919, stabbed to death by a member of his own band.
“Europe’s death was doubly regrettable because he was on his way to becoming a serious activist, someone who wanted to use his music for the promotion of racial equality,” Slotkin said.
“Lost Battalions” is available for purchase at Broad Street Books, where Slotkin held a book-signing Dec. 7.
Slotkin is no new hand at historical writing. He is the author of a distinguished trilogy on the myth of the American frontier, “Regeneration through Violence,” “The Fatal Environment,” and “Gunfighter Nation,” as well as three historical novels. He already has plans for a new book focusing on war movies that range from the myth of the “good war” that was WWII to the controversy that is now Iraq.
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