Prominent Figures in Black History and
Black Medal of Honor Recipients
Maj. Alexander T. Augusta Black surgeon
with the Union forces. Although given an officer's rank, was paid
black-enlisted wages during most of his service in the Army. (1/124)
J34
Oscar Chapman Secretary of interior and
a strong advocate of President Truman's civil-rights programs, including
integration of the armed forces. (12/8471)
Contrabands 3,800 Civil War "contrabands" (fugitive
and liberated slaves) are buried in Section 27, their headstones
marked with the words "Citizen" or "Civilian."
![Brig. Gen. Benjamin O. Davis Sr.](/peth04/20041015170340im_/http://www.mdw.army.mil/B_O_%20Davis.JPG)
Brig. Gen. Benjamin O. Davis Sr.
Brig. Gen. Benjamin O. Davis Sr. Selected
by President Roosevelt and Gen. of the Army George C. Marshall as
the first black general in the U.S. military in 1940. (2/478) W32.
Medgar Evers Civil-rights leader who was
shot outside of his home in Mississippi in June 1963. Following
his death he became a symbol of black pride and a martyr of America's
civil-rights struggle. (36/1431) BB-40.
Robert Ingersoll A strong advocate of equal
rights for blacks and women in the late 1800s. When hotels refused
to house Frederick Douglass, Ingersoll welcomed the black journalist
into his Illinois home. They later become close friends. (3/1620)
S16
Air Force Gen. Daniel (Chappie) James First
black four-star officer in the armed forces. Veteran of World War
II, Korea and Vietnam. (2/4968) V33
Louis Vaughn Jones Concert violinist, professor
of music at Howard University.
Allard Lowenstein N.Y. congressman who
actively fought for the civil-rights cause in 1960s. Shot in his
law office in 1980. (30/2005) U36
Joe
Louis (Barrows) "The Brown Bomber" Held
the title of Heavyweight Champion of the World longer and defended
it more times than any other boxer in history. As a sergeant during
World War II, he donated $100,000 to Army and Navy relief efforts
and fought 96 exhibition matches for more than 2 million troops.
(7A/177) U24
James Parks Born a Custis slave in the
mid-1800s, "Uncle Jim" lived on the Arlington Estate for
almost 90 years. During the Civil War he helped bury soldiers and
build Union fortifications. He died in 1929, having fathered 22
children and leaving a rich oral history of the Cemetery. (15/2)
G26 1/2
Brig. Gen. Noel F. Parrish White commander
of the all-black Tuskegee Airman. Organized and directed the military's
first systematic effort to train black pilots for combat duty during
World War II. The general was instrumental in planning the integration
of the armed forces in later years. (3/1667) PQ17 1/2
Lemuel A. Penn Prominent black educator
and civil-rights activist who was shot in Georgia in 1964. (3/1377)
LM19
Spotswood Poles One of the best baseball
players in the Negro Leagues during the early 1900s. Batting average
in 1914 was 487. (42/2324) U46
Gen.
Roscoe Robinson Jr. The first black in the Army
to attain four-star rank. In a 34-year military career that began
in 1951, the U.S. Military Academy graduate served with the 7th
Infantry Division during the Korean War and the 1st Cavalry Division
in Vietnam. Between them he earned two Silver Stars, three Legions
of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross and a Bronze Star Medal.
He served as U.S. representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
for the three years preceding his retirement in 1985. The general
died July 22, 1993. (7A/18)
Col. Frank Snowden Senior black officer
at Camp Lee, Va., in World War II. Major consultant on interracial
matters between 1946 and 1947. (12/8471) CC26
U.S.C.T. United States Colored Troops who served with the
Union forces during the Civil War. More than 180,000 blacks served
in U.S.C.T. units. Buried in Sections 23 and 27, their headstones
are marked with a Civil War Shield and the letters U.S.C.T.
USS Maine The USS Maine was sunk in Havana
Harbor, Cuba, in 1898, and became the rallying call for the Spanish-American
War. Aboard were 22 black sailors who were buried along with the
rest of the crew in Section 24 near the mast of the Maine.
Capt. O.S.B Wall One of 100 black officers
during the Civil War. Wall was a primary mover in the recruitment
of blacks in the Union forces. (1/124) H33
Col. Charles Young - The third black to graduate
the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Graduating in 1889, he
was the first black to reach the rank of colonel in 1917. (3/1730)
WR17 1/2
BLACK MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENTS BURIED AT ARLINGTON
Civil War:
William H. Brown, U.S. Navy (27/565)
James H. Harris, U.S. Army (27/985)
Milton M. Holland, U.S. Army (23/21713)
James Richmond, U.S. Army (27-886)
Indian Wars:
Henry Johnson, U.S. Army (23/16547)
William McBryar, U.S. Army (4/2738)
Thomas Shaw, U.S. Army (27/952)
Spanish-American War:
John Davis, U.S. Navy (11/637)
Dennis Bell, U.S. Army (31/349)
George H. Wanton, U.S. Army (4/2749)
Interim 1871-1898:
William Johnson, U.S. Navy (23/16648)
World War I:
There are no black recipients from World War I buried at Arlington
National Cemetery.
World War II:
Edward A. Carter II U.S. Army (59/451)
Korean War:
There are no black recipients from the Korean War buried at Arlington
National Cemetery.
Vietnam War:
Lawrence Joel, U.S. Army (46/15-1)
Dwight H. Johnson, U.S. Army (31/471)
Charles Calvin Rogers, U.S. Army (7A-99) (major general top-ranking
black Medal of Honor recipient)
Return to MDW Fact Sheets
Directory
|