Of Black America: The Black Soldier: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A documentary film with the title "The Black Soldier," from the television series Of Black America. It consists of a single reel of black-and-white 16mm acetate film with optical sound.

The third segment of a seven-part docu-series on CBS, The Black Soldier aired during the summer of 1968. This short documentary is narrated by Bill Cosby and tells the history of Black soldiers serving in the military. Beginning with the Revolutionary War, the film explains the critical role that Black soldiers played in fighting the British despite enslavement, discrimination, and segregation.

The documentary goes on to discuss the participation of Black Soldiers in the Spanish American War, WWI, and WWII and the fight to end segregation within the military. At the end of the film, the narration states that the purpose of the documentary is to dispute the claim that Black soldiers in the US military did not exist prior to the Vietnam War.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1968
• Published by: CBS Broadcasting, Inc., American, founded 1927
• Produced by: Perry Wolff, American, 1921 - 2019
• Narrated by: Bill Cosby, American, born 1937
• Owned by: D.C. Public Library, American, founded 1896
• Type: documentaries
• Type: sound films
• Type: black-and-white films (visual works)
• Type: short subjects
• Type: 16mm (photographic film size)
• Medium: acetate film
• Dimensions: Duration: 27 Minutes
• Dimensions: Length (Film): 950 Feet
• Place used: Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Actors
• Topic: Buffalo Soldiers
• Topic: Documentary films
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Military
• Topic: Public television
• Topic: Race relations
• Object number: 2017.55.70.1a
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Transferred from the DC Public Library
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Restrictions likely apply. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.