The Black Press in Minnesota During World War I

Student's Name

Alejandra Galvan, Minnesota State University MankatoFollow

1st Student's Major

History

1st Student's College

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Students' Professional Biography

I graduated from Albert Lea High School in 2013 and decided to major in History in college. I attended Minnesota State University, Mankato and graduated in May of 2017. Along with History, I also minored in Biology. I plan on pursuing a medical career, despite my social science background. I also plan on attending the Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences in Rochester, MN within my first year of graduating to become a Surgical First Assistant. The reason I chose not to major with a science degree is because I know what it takes to become a doctor and I am willing to challenge myself. I have taken science classes, volunteered at Mayo Clinic in Mankato, and talked to few mentors regarding my medical future and have received tremendous support. History, as well as other social science degrees, provide the critical thinking and reasoning necessary for any career.

Mentor's Name

Angela Cooley

Mentor's Email Address

angela.cooley@mnsu.edu

Mentor's Department

History

Mentor's College

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Other Mentors

Lori Ann Lahlum

College of Social and Behavioral Sciences- History

Abstract

April 2017 marks the 100^th anniversary of the United States entering World War I. Many enjoy learning about the battles, the military, and the Homefront. But there is a need for more scholarship to understand the role African Americans played in the war. From my research, many African Americans disagreed with US involvement. Why would a country agree to fight for democracy overseas when its citizens need freedom at home? Racism in the United States concerned African Americans deeply. At the same time, however, African Americans viewed World War I as a way to demonstrate their patriotism. Black citizens argued that despite President Wilson’s decision to ignore racial discrimination at home, the United States still required support from all citizens. Their hope was to convince the rest of the nation if African Americans are willing to sacrifice their lives for a country that treats them as second class citizens, it would put an end to discrimination and segregation. The black community searched for a way to voice their opinions and one way they accomplished this was through newspapers. The expansion of the black press toward the end of the nineteenth century led African Americans in Minnesota to become more involved in politics and in racial injustices. Based on research of St. Paul’s African American newspaper, The Appeal, black citizens remained loyal to their country during World War I while bringing attention to the injustice at the same time.

Recommended Citation

Galvan, Alejandra (2017) "The Black Press in Minnesota During World War I," Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato: Vol. 17, Article 3.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.56816/2378-6949.1201
Available at: https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/jur/vol17/iss1/3

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License