Record of the Week: African-American Comics During World War II

This post was submitted by Ray Bottorff, Archivist at the National Archives at College Park. Ray is also a comic books enthusiast, so we present this record of the week in celebration of Awesome Con, happening this weekend in Washington, DC.

From the series General Records, 1942–July 1943 (NAID 12126610) in RG 44

George J. Hecht, President of the Parents’ Institute, a publishing company, contacted the Division of Education Services of the Office of War Information (OWI) about printing comic books aimed at African Americans in order to include and encourage their participation in the war efforts.

Along with the letters, Hecht sent in examples of his work, including tear sheets from a biographical story of  Marian Anderson, which highlighted Anderson’s rising fame and generosity towards American servicemen.

Another set of tear sheets includes a biographical story on Joe Louis.

4 thoughts on “Record of the Week: African-American Comics During World War II

    1. Thanks Hilary, we will adjust the amount of time the slides display. You can also click on a slide and display each panel individually now.

  1. I would like to see more of this and in greater detail. It’s a part of our history that’s been largely ignored and consequently we know very little about it. Please, however slow down your displays so we can study them.

Leave a Reply