Every February Karen Lomasney, secretary to the Port Arthur ISD superintendent, creates a National Black History Month booklet. This year is no exception.

She uses different themes for the booklets. The theme for this booklet is “African Americans in times of war,” with entries of those who served. Other entries show how schools in the district are observing National Black History Month.

The introduction to the booklet says the military history of African Americans spans from the arrival of the first enslaved Africans during the colonial history of the United States to the present day. In every war fought by or within the United States, African Americans participated, including the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, the World Wars, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as other minor conflicts.

Despite a high enlistment rate in the U.S. Army, African Americans were not treated equally. At parades, church services, in transportation and canteens, the races were separate.

The booklet gives a rundown of African Americans’ service to their country. It concluds with, “Since the end of military segregation and the creation of an all-volunteer army, the American military saw the representation of African Americans in its ranks rise precipitously.”

The entries include:

• Michael P. Anderson- a NASA astronaut and Air Force veteran
• Gen. Lloyd Austin Jr.- a commander
• Ruby Bridges- an activist
• Mamie Van Brittan Brown- a nurse and inventor
• Selma Burke- a sculptor
• Cab Calloway- a singer
• Samuel L. Gravely Jr. – an officer in the Navy
• Charles H. Houston- a lawyer
• Zora Neale Hurston- a novelist, short story writer, folklorist and anthropologist
• Hugh Masekela- a jazz musician
• Doris “Dorrie” Miller- awarded a Purple Heart, World War II Victory Medal, and the Navy Cross
• Recy Taylor- a catalyst for the civil rights movement
• Walter Edward Washington- a civil servant and mayor
• Jesse Ernest Wilkins Jr.- a mathematician, scientist
• Richard Nathaniel Wright- a writer

The booklet concluds with the 761^st Black Panthers tank squadron in World War II, the Golden Thirteen, a group of African-American Navy officers who became the first group of black servicemen to complete officer training in 1944, and the Freeman Field mutiny when African-American members of the 477^th Bombardment Group attempted to integrate an all-white officers’ club in 1945. The resulting mutiny resulted in 162 separate arrests of black officers. Many historians of the civil rights movement generally regard the Freeman Field mutiny as one of the important steps toward full integration of the armed forces.

Lastly, Mary Ann Shadd was a writer, educator, lawyer, abolitionist and the first black newspaperwoman in North America. She was also one of the first black female lawyers in the country.