[African-American Photographica]: [World War II Photographica]:

$2,000 · Offered by William Reese Company · No longer available

[TWENTY-FOUR PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE 364th ENGINEER GENERAL SERVICE UNIT WORKING ON INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS IN THE SOUTH DURING WORLD WAR II]. A collection of official and unofficial photographs of the African-American 364th Engineer General Service Regiment, at work on the home front in World War II constructing levees, purifying drinking water, and guarding against historic floods on the White River. After training at Camp Claiborne in Louisiana, the 364th was deployed to Arkansas to protect peoples' homes and the all-important cotton crop from severe flooding caused by a series of tornadoes in the state. The larger part of the photographs here appear to be official documentation of their activities, each with an ink stamp reading "Not For Public Release" on the verso, although some were undoubtedly meant for the press. Indeed, the Army did much to tout the Engineers' efforts on the home front. In the May 23, 1943, issue of The Tennessean, the paper reported a dispatch "written especially for the United Press," which proudly stated, under the headline "Army Flood Work Regarded Among Top Home Victories," that "the largest flood to hit these flat-lands of Arkansas since 1927 was being checked today by troops. Army engineers have become flood fighters. Their work has allowed practically all of these low-land residents to remain in their homes. Furthermore, the fight which the six engineer outfits have been putting up against the overflowing White River has saved several thousand ac

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