Identified WWI 92nd Division Officer Uniform

[Croix de Guerre]

I've posted a photo of this uniform before but I have not shared the information about it. There is a mystery about this that I hope you all may be able to help me solve.

 

This uniform is identified to a man whose name was Charles Hamilton Houston who was born in Washington DC on September 3, 1895. Houston graduated valedictorian of his 1915 class at Amherst College. By 1917 he was employed at Howard University teaching English and Negro Literature. He enlisted June 15, 1917 and was sent to the Officers Training Camp at Fort Des Moines, Iowa and was one of only 1000 African-American officers commisioned there, recieving his commision as a 1st lieutenant, August 15, 1917. He was assinged to Camp Meade, MD; 368th Infantry; then assigned to the judge advocate staff for the 368th Infantry.

 

Here is where the story confuses me; In June of 1918 he was placed on detached service with the 22nd Battalion and transferred to Camp Taylor, Kentucky to attend Field Artillery training school. According to his alumni information he was commisioned as a 2nd Lieutenant August 31, 1918 and assigned to the 351st Field Artillery. He went overseas September 23, 1918; returned to the US January 15, 1919 and discharged at Fort Dix, NJ April 3, 1919.

 

I'll post some pics of the uniform for now and then share a little more later;

[Croix de Guerre]

I've posted a photo of this uniform before but I have not shared the information about it. There is a mystery about this that I hope you all may be able to help me solve.

 

This uniform is identified to a man whose name was Charles Hamilton Houston who was born in Washington DC on September 3, 1895. Houston graduated valedictorian of his 1915 class at Amherst College. By 1917 he was employed at Howard University teaching English and Negro Literature. He enlisted June 15, 1917 and sent to the Officers Training Camp at Fort Des Moines, Iowa and was one of only 1000 African-American officers commisioned there, recieving his commision as a 1st lieutenant, August 15, 1917. He was assinged to Camp Meade, MD; 368th Infantry; then assigned to the judge advocate staff for the 368th Infantry.

 

Here is where the story confuses me; In June of 1918 he was placed on detached service with the 22nd Battalion and transferred to Camp Taylor, Kentucky to attend Field Artillery training school. According to his alumni information he was commisioned as a 2nd Lieutenant August 31, 1918 and assigned to the 351st Field Artillery. He went overseas September 23, 1918; returned to the US January 15, 1919 and discharged at Fort Dix, NJ April 3, 1919.

 

I'll post some pics of the uniform for now and then share a little more later;

[Croix de Guerre]

I've posted a photo of this uniform before but I have not shared the information about it. There is a mystery about this that I hope you all may be able to help me solve.

 

This uniform is identified to a man whose name was Charles Hamilton Houston who was born in Washington DC on September 3, 1895. Houston graduated valedictorian of his 1915 class at Amherst College. By 1917 he was employed at Howard University teaching English and Negro Literature. He enlisted June 15, 1917 and sent to the Officers Training Camp at Fort Des Moines, Iowa and was one of only 1000 African-American officers commisioned there, recieving his commision as a 1st lieutenant, August 15, 1917. He was assinged to Camp Meade, MD; 368th Infantry; then assigned to the judge advocate staff for the 368th Infantry.

 

Here is where the story confuses me; In June of 1918 he was placed on detached service with the 22nd Battalion and transferred to Camp Taylor, Kentucky to attend Field Artillery training school. According to his alumni information he was commisioned as a 2nd Lieutenant August 31, 1918 and assigned to the 351st Field Artillery. He went overseas September 23, 1918; returned to the US January 15, 1919 and discharged at Fort Dix, NJ April 3, 1919.

 

I'll post some pics of the uniform for now and then share a little more later;

[Croix de Guerre]

I've posted a photo of this uniform before but I have not shared the information about it. There is a mystery about this that I hope you all may be able to help me solve.

 

This uniform is identified to a man whose name was Charles Hamilton Houston who was born in Washington DC on September 3, 1895. Houston graduated valedictorian of his 1915 class at Amherst College. By 1917 he was employed at Howard University teaching English and Negro Literature. He enlisted June 15, 1917 and sent to the Officers Training Camp at Fort Des Moines, Iowa and was one of only 1000 African-American officers commisioned there, recieving his commision as a 1st lieutenant, August 15, 1917. He was assinged to Camp Meade, MD; 368th Infantry; then assigned to the judge advocate staff for the 368th Infantry.

 

Here is where the story confuses me; In June of 1918 he was placed on detached service with the 22nd Battalion and transferred to Camp Taylor, Kentucky to attend Field Artillery training school. According to his alumni information he was commisioned as a 2nd Lieutenant August 31, 1918 and assigned to the 351st Field Artillery. He went overseas September 23, 1918; returned to the US January 15, 1919 and discharged at Fort Dix, NJ April 3, 1919.

 

I'll post some pics of the uniform for now and then share a little more later;

[Croix de Guerre]

I've posted a photo of this uniform before but I have not shared the information about it. There is a mystery about this that I hope you all may be able to help me solve.

 

This uniform is identified to a man whose name was Charles Hamilton Houston who was born in Washington DC on September 3, 1895. Houston graduated valedictorian of his 1915 class at Amherst College. By 1917 he was employed at Howard University teaching English and Negro Literature. He enlisted June 15, 1917 and sent to the Officers Training Camp at Fort Des Moines, Iowa and was one of only 1000 African-American officers commisioned there, recieving his commision as a 1st lieutenant, August 15, 1917. He was assinged to Camp Meade, MD; 368th Infantry; then assigned to the judge advocate staff for the 368th Infantry.

 

Here is where the story confuses me; In June of 1918 he was placed on detached service with the 22nd Battalion and transferred to Camp Taylor, Kentucky to attend Field Artillery training school. According to his alumni information he was commisioned as a 2nd Lieutenant August 31, 1918 and assigned to the 351st Field Artillery. He went overseas September 23, 1918; returned to the US January 15, 1919 and discharged at Fort Dix, NJ April 3, 1919.

 

I'll post some pics of the uniform for now and then share a little more later;

[Croix de Guerre]

I've posted a photo of this uniform before but I have not shared the information about it. There is a mystery about this that I hope you all may be able to help me solve.

 

This uniform is identified to a man whose name was Charles Hamilton Houston who was born in Washington DC on September 3, 1895. Houston graduated valedictorian of his 1915 class at Amherst College. By 1917 he was employed at Howard University teaching English and Negro Literature. He enlisted June 15, 1917 and sent to the Officers Training Camp at Fort Des Moines, Iowa and was one of only 1000 African-American officers commisioned there, recieving his commision as a 1st lieutenant, August 15, 1917. He was assinged to Camp Meade, MD; 368th Infantry; then assigned to the judge advocate staff for the 368th Infantry.

 

Here is where the story confuses me; In June of 1918 he was placed on detached service with the 22nd Battalion and transferred to Camp Taylor, Kentucky to attend Field Artillery training school. According to his alumni information he was commisioned as a 2nd Lieutenant August 31, 1918 and assigned to the 351st Field Artillery. He went overseas September 23, 1918; returned to the US January 15, 1919 and discharged at Fort Dix, NJ April 3, 1919.

 

I'll post some pics of the uniform for now and then share a little more later;

[Croix de Guerre]

I've posted a photo of this uniform before but I have not shared the information about it. There is a mystery about this that I hope you all may be able to help me solve.

 

This uniform is identified to a man whose name was Charles Hamilton Houston who was born in Washington DC on September 3, 1895. Houston graduated valedictorian of his 1915 class at Amherst College. By 1917 he was employed at Howard University teaching English and Negro Literature. He enlisted June 15, 1917 and sent to the Officers Training Camp at Fort Des Moines, Iowa and was one of only 1000 African-American officers commisioned there, recieving his commision as a 1st lieutenant, August 15, 1917. He was assinged to Camp Meade, MD; 368th Infantry; then assigned to the judge advocate staff for the 368th Infantry.

 

Here is where the story confuses me; In June of 1918 he was placed on detached service with the 22nd Battalion and transferred to Camp Taylor, Kentucky to attend Field Artillery training school. According to his alumni information he was commisioned as a 2nd Lieutenant August 31, 1918 and assigned to the 351st Field Artillery. He went overseas September 23, 1918; returned to the US January 15, 1919 and discharged at Fort Dix, NJ April 3, 1919.

 

I'll post some pics of the uniform for now and then share a little more later;

[Croix de Guerre]

I've posted a photo of this uniform before but I have not shared the information about it. There is a mystery about this that I hope you all may be able to help me solve.

 

This uniform is identified to a man whose name was Charles Hamilton Houston who was born in Washington DC on September 3, 1895. Houston graduated valedictorian of his 1915 class at Amherst College. By 1917 he was employed at Howard University teaching English and Negro Literature. He enlisted June 15, 1917 and sent to the Officers Training Camp at Fort Des Moines, Iowa and was one of only 1000 African-American officers commisioned there, recieving his commision as a 1st lieutenant, August 15, 1917. He was assinged to Camp Meade, MD; 368th Infantry; then assigned to the judge advocate staff for the 368th Infantry.

 

Here is where the story confuses me; In June of 1918 he was placed on detached service with the 22nd Battalion and transferred to Camp Taylor, Kentucky to attend Field Artillery training school. According to his alumni information he was commisioned as a 2nd Lieutenant August 31, 1918 and assigned to the 351st Field Artillery. He went overseas September 23, 1918; returned to the US January 15, 1919 and discharged at Fort Dix, NJ April 3, 1919.

 

I'll post some pics of the uniform for now and then share a little more later;

[Croix de Guerre]

I've posted a photo of this uniform before but I have not shared the information about it. There is a mystery about this that I hope you all may be able to help me solve.

 

This uniform is identified to a man whose name was Charles Hamilton Houston who was born in Washington DC on September 3, 1895. Houston graduated valedictorian of his 1915 class at Amherst College. By 1917 he was employed at Howard University teaching English and Negro Literature. He enlisted June 15, 1917 and sent to the Officers Training Camp at Fort Des Moines, Iowa and was one of only 1000 African-American officers commisioned there, recieving his commision as a 1st lieutenant, August 15, 1917. He was assinged to Camp Meade, MD; 368th Infantry; then assigned to the judge advocate staff for the 368th Infantry.

 

Here is where the story confuses me; In June of 1918 he was placed on detached service with the 22nd Battalion and transferred to Camp Taylor, Kentucky to attend Field Artillery training school. According to his alumni information he was commisioned as a 2nd Lieutenant August 31, 1918 and assigned to the 351st Field Artillery. He went overseas September 23, 1918; returned to the US January 15, 1919 and discharged at Fort Dix, NJ April 3, 1919.

 

I'll post some pics of the uniform for now and then share a little more later;

[Croix de Guerre]

So here is the question: Why would an artillery officer wear a blue (for infantry) Buffalo patch and have his Victory Medal engraved with his old regiment?

 

When I first purchased this uniform, I had a pretty good idea that no one had done any real research on this guy, other than to find his name on a list of commisioned officers from Emmet Scott's book, "The American Negro in the World War". I ran the provenance back from collector to collector until I found the first guy to own it when it first popped up on the market back in 1978. Now in 1978, no body gave a crap about black uniforms. That's not to say that there weren't fakes then but the chances are it was real. (I know the first person to find it and I trust him.)

 

I got this uniform almost exactly at the same time that ancestory.com starting offering WWI Draft enlistment records so I looked him up. I was pleased to see that he was listed as being employed at Howard University. I thought, cool, I'll write to Howard, I'm sure that they will have some records of former faculty and maybe even a photo. I went online to get the address and found a number for their archives and decided to just go ahead an call. The nice woman on the phone replied "Oh yes, I am very familar with Dr. Houston", when I asked about him.

 

As we began talking, I googled his name and man did I get some hits! It turns out that Charles Hamilton Houston started the Howard Univeristy Law School and that the Law building is named for him! He is known as "The Man Who Killed Jim Crow", as he became the head of the legal arm of the NAACP and his star pupil was none other than the first black U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Justice Thurgood Marshall!

[Croix de Guerre]

As I started to research Houston some of the pieces began to fall into place. An example of this is that the uniform has a Louisville, Kentucky tailors label. This puzzled me and initially alarm bells went off as I thought how in the heck could a guy who was commisoned in Iowa and assigned to Camp Meade, Maryland get a unifrom made in Kentucky? When I wrote to Amherst and got his alumni records it states that he was sent to F.A.T.S. at Camp Taylor, Kentucky (which is six miles from downtown Louisville). I'll bet dollars to doughnuts I was the first person to own this tuni that knew that, and so that explains the odd tailor label. Another thing that is strange in that he was commsioned as a "1ST LT" at Des Moines but he was commisioned as a "2ND LT" when he graduated from F.A.T.S. in August of 1918 and the uniform has the butter bars of a second louie.

 

Now Houston did not go over to France with the 368th Infantry. The 368th went over in the summer of 1918 and Houston didn't arrive until that fall. In a story he wrote in 1940 he stated that he had wanted from the beginning to serve in the artillery but that all the officers commsioned at Des Moines were assigned to the infantry as it was thought that negro officer would not have the education to handle the mathematics needed to serve in the artillery.

 

He was deeply embittered by the blatant racism he was confronted with while in the army, to the extant that as soon as he was discharged from the military, he enrolled in law school at Harvard so he could combat this evil.

 

He wrote an interesting comment about the Buffalo patch; "In France every division was permitted to select some distinguishing emblem which officers and men wore on the left sleeve of the uniform at the shoulder. The 92nd Division chose the buffalo, which had been previously adopted by the 367th Infantry at Camp Upton. The white artillery officers refused to wear the buffalo emblem. Instead they adopted for themselves and the artilery brigade the emblem which Hitler has since made famous; the swastika. The 92nd Divison was the only combat division in France which did not have the same distinguishing emblem for all its units. And the high command took no action for this breach of discipline on the part of the white officers."

[Dave]

The 92nd Division chose the buffalo, which had been previously adopted by the 367th Infantry at Camp Upton. The white artillery officers refused to wear the buffalo emblem. Instead they adopted for themselves and the artilery brigade the emblem which Hitler has since made famous; the swastika. The 92nd Divison was the only combat division in France which did not have the same distinguishing emblem for all its units. And the high command took no action for this breach of discipline on the part of the white officers."

 

And it comes full circle...my 351st Field Artillery (white) officer's jacket...

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/ind...showtopic=23788

 

I wonder if they knew each other???

 

Just an amazing, amazing uniform Croix de Guerre...THANKS for posting it!

 

Dave

[trenchbuff]

Tom, The AEF had a huge shortage of qualified artillery officers in France in 1918. In anticipation of the war lasting until at least the Spring of 1919, there was a push to get as many artillery officers trained and ready for combat. It might be possible that your guy was selected for artillery training but didn't make it through the pipeline and continued to wear his old outfits insignia out of pride for the unit. Who know???

 

Mark

[BEAST]

CdG,

He may have been reassigned back to his original unit after the armistice and the medal awarded while he was assigned with them. Did the 368th remain to serve as pioneers?

 

Who had the rim engraved? Was that done by the unit, did the individual have it done after the war or was it done overseas?

[FW12]

What a story. Thanks for sharing this historic uniform. Without your research, it may have been left undiscovered. I learned a lot here today. Thanks again for sharing!

 

Beau

[Croix de Guerre]

Charles Hamilton Houston (September 3, 1895 – April 22, 1950) was an African American lawyer, Dean of Howard University Law School and NAACP Litigation Director who helped play a role in dismantling the Jim Crow laws and helped train future Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall. He was educated at Amherst College, where he was valedictorian, and at Harvard Law School, where he graduated cum laude and was a member of the Harvard Law Review. Known as "The Man Who Killed Jim Crow."[1], he played a role in nearly every civil rights case before the Supreme Court between 1930 and Brown v. Board of Education (1954). Houston's plan to attack and defeat Jim Crow segregation by using the inequality of the "separate but separate" doctrine (from the Supreme Court's Plessy v. Ferguson decision) as it pertained to public education in the United States was the masterstroke that brought about the landmark Brown decision.

 

Houston was posthumously awarded the NAACP's Spingarn Medal in 1950 and, in 1958, the main building of the Howard University School of Law was dedicated as Charles Hamilton Houston Hall. His importance became more broadly known through the success of Thurgood Marshall and after the 1983 publication of Genna Rae McNeil's Groundwork: Charles Hamilton Houston and the Struggle for Civil Rights.

 

Houston is the namesake of the Charles Houston Bar Association and the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School, which opened in the fall of 2005. In addition, there is a professorship at Harvard Law named after him; currently, the Dean of Harvard Law School, Elena Kagan, is also the Charles Hamilton Houston Professor of Law.

 

Houston was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans.

[Croix de Guerre]

Charles Hamilton Houston

[Croix de Guerre]

CdG,

He may have been reassigned back to his original unit after the armistice and the medal awarded while he was assigned with them. Did the 368th remain to serve as pioneers?

 

Who had the rim engraved? Was that done by the unit, did the individual have it done after the war or was it done overseas?

 

I thought about that as well but I have no proof. I wrote to St. Louis but of course I got the same old run around. I have a contact in the Army that has more clout than I do that is doing an inquiry for me. His alumni papers have him being discharged from the Officers' Reserve Corps in 1934 as a 2nd Lt. FA-Res. But, I don't know his status before he was discharged in 1919. As far as the engraving on his Victory Medal, my understanding is that he would have had to had it done by a jeweler as it most likely was not done by the military. The bars are correct for his service as is the number of service stripes on his sleeve. But why would he have retained the crossed rifles of an infantry officer on his collar if he had been commisoned and demoted in rank as an artillery officer? Without seeing his file, it's all just conjecture. I have every belief that this is Houston's uniform, but I want to have the missing pieces of the puzzle as some parts fit but others are a mystery.

[Croix de Guerre]

What a story. Thanks for sharing this historic uniform. Without your research, it may have been left undiscovered. I learned a lot here today. Thanks again for sharing!

 

Beau

 

Thanks for the kind words Beau, I appreciate it!

[Croix de Guerre]

And it comes full circle...my 351st Field Artillery (white) officer's jacket...

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/ind...showtopic=23788

 

I wonder if they knew each other???

 

Just an amazing, amazing uniform Croix de Guerre...THANKS for posting it!

 

Dave

 

 

Thanks for the kind words Dave! Man that is a KILLER uniform!!! We ought to get them together for a display someday!

[Old Marine]

Man that's a really special piece of history. I think it's amazing how the history behind your uniform falls right in so perfectly with the history of Dave's uniform. I learned a lot today. Thanks for taking the time to post these wonderful uniforms and thanks for letting me peer over your shoulders as you research all this.

 

 

Great stuff!

 

Dennis

[bobgee]

I'll ditto "Old Marine"'s comments. Great historical uniform(s)! Great story of an outstanding American.

Of course, keep in mind that the Victory Medals were awarded in 1920. So the engraving was done by the recipient after that date. He obviously favored his service with the 368th Infantry to have placed it on the medal. Unusual to see the 'Overseas' and 'France' bars worn together. Thanks for sharing this great stuff!

Bobgee

[Bob Hudson]

Certainly the rejection of the Buffalo patch by the white officers was a racist reaction because of its attachment to the Buffalo Soldiers of the all-black regiments. I suspect Houston's counter-reaction was to disown that unit's officer corps and identify with his infantry unit. If you want a better handle on what he might have been bitter, read this: http://tinyurl.com/5fltt8

 

 

[Croix de Guerre]

Certainly the rejection of the Buffalo patch by the white officers was a racist reaction because of its attachment to the Buffalo Soldiers of the all-black regiments. I suspect Houston's counter-reaction was to disown that unit's officer corps and identify with his infantry unit. If you want a better handle on what he might have been bitter, read this: http://tinyurl.com/5fltt8

 

That's were my heart tends to lead me as well. I wrote to Howard and got transcripts of a weekly article Houston wrote in the 1940's and the hurt and humiliation were still plainly evident. Still I would like to see something about reassignment back to the 368th to explain the collar insignia. The Buffalo patch on the uniform is understandable as a rejection of the white officers patch (which you have to admit there is certainly an irony in their descision to wear a swastika although we know at the time it was considered to be an Indian good luck symbol and had no Nazi connotations); although I have seen some documented examples of red-for-artillery buffalo patches.

 

I have a copy of "Two Colored Women With the A.E.F." and I couldn't reccommend a better book on the subject. The chapters on the pioneer infantry regiments are especially poignant .

[Croix de Guerre]

I'll ditto "Old Marine"'s comments. Great historical uniform(s)! Great story of an outstanding American.

Of course, keep in mind that the Victory Medals were awarded in 1920. So the engraving was done by the recipient after that date. He obviously favored his service with the 368th Infantry to have placed it on the medal. Unusual to see the 'Overseas' and 'France' bars worn together. Thanks for sharing this great stuff!

Bobgee

 

 

Your very welcome Bob! Any thoughts on why he wore both bars?