Documenting United States History

p raCTICINg historical Thinking

Identify: What features of the advertisement—both the imagery and the text—

appeal to audiences?

Analyze: In what ways does this image uphold traditional images of American

women? In what ways does it challenge those images?

Evaluate: To what extent does this advertisement portray new opportunities for

American women?

Document 18.9 carL MurPHy, an open Letter Home during

World War ii

1943

Carl Murphy (1889–1967) was president of the Baltimore Afro-American newspaper and a

civil rights leader who, in publishing this open letter, questioned the justice of racial seg-

regation in the US armed forces. The United States Army was desegregated by President

Harry Truman in 1948.

... I, a commissioned officer of the United States Army, am denied the rights
and privileges of an officer. I am excluded by members of my own rank and
station in the Army. I am denied the privilege to use the Officer’s Club. Al-
though members of my race are used as waiters and general help around the
club, I am denied the privilege of using it. It has been a source of embarrass-
ment for a Negro soldier working there to ask me if I am denied the privilege
of the club. I ask you, gentlemen, what would you say or do if a soldier, who

TopIC II | War in the name of Democracy? 417

library of Congress

prints and

photographs

D

ivision,

lC-U

SZ62-99103.

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