African Americans Enroll for Officers' Training Camp at Fort Des Moines.

ID: 133 ~ Source: National Archives ~ Creator: Paul Thompson ~ Date: Received 1918-02

This file appears in: Fort Des Moines: Chronology

African Americans Enroll for Officers' Training Camp at Fort Des Moines.

Photo shows African Americans enlisting at the African American YMCA for the African American Officers' Training Camp at Fort Des Moines, Iowa. A. Merrill Willis (sitting) was the first man to enlist.

Additional Information

Subject

Wartime

Type

Image

This file appears in: Fort Des Moines: Chronology

Fort Des Moines: Chronology

By Fort Des Moines Museum & Education Center

1901 Construction begins on the 400-acre base Fort Des Moines on Des Moines’ South Side.1903-1904 Two companies of the all-black U.S. Army 25th Infantry surprise Des Moines’ local citizens by arriving instead of white cavalry. The 25th had been…