Synopses & Reviews
One of the first Army bases to implement on a large scalePresident Truman's call for racial integration of the armed forces, Fort Jackson, South Carolina, quickly took its place in the Defense Department's official historyof the process. What reporters, and later on, historians, overlooked was theinteraction between the integration of Fort Jackson and developments, in particular, the civil rights movement, in the wider communities in which the base is situated.InBlack, White, and Olive Drab, Andrew H. Myers redresses this oversight; taking acase-study approach, Myers meticulously weaves together a wide range of officialrecords, newspaper accounts, and personal interviews, revealing the impact of FortJackson's integration on the desegregation of civilian buses, schools, housing, andpublic facilities in the surrounding area. Examining the ways in which commandersand staff at the installation navigated challenges over racial issues in theirdealings with municipal authorities, state politicians, federal legislators, and theupper echelons of the military bureaucracy, Myers also addresses how post leadersdealt with the potential for participation in civil rights demonstrations bysoldiers under their command. Original and provocative, Black, White, and Olive Drabwill engage historians and sociologists who study military-social relations, thecivil rights movement, African American history, and the South, as well as those whoare interested in or familiar with basic training or the American armedforces.