since 1979. this year, we are begging you thisnfiltered view november. in other words, your future. so this election season complete, direct, and unfiltered. see the biggest picture for yourself and make up your own campaign 2020an's brought to you as a public service by your television provider. host: we take you now inside the smithsonian museum to one of the temporary exhibit, retired colonel krewasky salter guest associate curator. first explain, the meaning behind the title.

it hints at a story beyond two years of service and fighting over there. guest: actually, exactly, we return, fighting, the african-american experience, world war i. the key to that title is, number one, you don't see the world military. it is not just about soldiers. it is about soldiers and civilians. it is about men and women. it is about young and old. it is about white and black. that is the long title. title, we return fighting, speaks to what happened after the war and how african-americans used world war i as a transformative event for them, just like it was a transformative event throughout the globe. host: we explore that story throughout this hour of washington journal, day five of museum week on washington journal with our friends at america history tv, c-span3. phone lines split up regionally. eastern or central time zones, (202)-748-8000.

mountain or pacific time zones, (202)-748-8001. special line set aside for african-american veterans, (202)-748-8002. would love to hear from you as we explore this observ exhibit t the african-american museum of history and culture. temporary exhibit, how long will this be up? how did this idea to focus on this story get included in the museum and open in december? opened december 13 last year. it will be up until june 14, this year. the 100th anniversary of world war i. a part of our mission is to illuminate always the story of americans through the african-american lens.

we wanted to make sure that experience during world war i was also highlighted. the reason the exhibition opened runningand is still goes directly to the title we talked about, we return fighting. the exhibition is not just about the african-american military experience. it is about african-american life and how african-americans used world war i as a foundation to plant the seeds for what became the civil rights movement after world war ii generation came back from fighting overseas as well. we thought about this exhibition as early as 2014-15, when i was boss at they then smithsonian, that we should do something for world war i.

he, rick,ears later, and then founding director, lonnie, now the secretary of the smithsonian went to france and they came back and planted the seed that we would do a world war i exhibition. then the guest curator and subject matter for military history, got the nod to do this exhibition. the exhibition speaks to not just what happened in the war but what happened after. host: military history first. u.s. joins world war i. what role did the military planners see african-american soldiers playing? how much was that shaped by the service of african-americans during the civil war, some of those civil war veterans who would have still been alive in their 70's and 80's by the time world war i broke out?

guest: great question. the bookends of the exhibition, 1865-1963. when we talk about the exhibition, we also plant the seed of what was going on in america, 1865, after the american civil war and before world war i. what was shaping the experience and use of african-americans was partly the service of african-americans in the american civil war and on the western frontier. the american civil war. the 13th amendment, which abolished slavery, 1865, the 17th amendment, correction, 14th amendment, 1868, gave african-americans citizenship. the 15th amendment, 1870, gave african-american men the right to vote.

1866, reorganization act, made african-americans a permanent part of the military. the era of reconstruction, uptick in the life and progress of african-americans. ,hen you get to world war i there is not this idea we want to put african-americans on the battlefield because what happened after the civil war? there was an uptick. there was a fear to not arm large groups of african-americans. push wasrld war i, the to use african-americans largely in services of supply roles. two african-american divisions. i also want to talk about the first interpretation, when you talk about what was setting the stage, when you walk in the exhibition, the first interpretation has three conversations going on. between w.e.b.

dubois. a conversation between the president of the u.s., woodrow wilson. a conversation with a young 28-year-old activist, randolph, from jacksonville, florida. says, 1980, in a magazine, -- 1918, in a magazine, which had been his sentiment for years before, african-americans should close ranks with their white brethren while this war lasts and fight. that was around the same time where president wilson goes before a joint session, congress, april 2, seven-page 10,ch we all remember, 9, 11 word phrase, we must fight to make the world safe for democracy. when african-americans hear that, they believe, because

their citizens, third, fourth, fifth generation americans and the leading scholar, w.e.b. dubois is saying close ranks. most african-americans believed that. many of them will support the war. however, there is a third conversation going on. randolph, you see his quote "we would rather make o."rgia safe for the negr each one of those has an image. the image under then, kkk regalia -- so the image you see under randolph's quote and the image of the president at the capital and the image of young men going to war are all within one year. when you understand african-americans are going to fight a war to make america safer democracy and many believe

the world and america would be safe for them when they get back, you will understand the rest of the exhibition. fighting, then african-american experience, world war i. a special phone line for african-american veterans, (202)-748-8002. otherwise, phone lines split up regionally. eastern, central time zones, (202)-748-8000. mountain, pacific time zones, (202)-748-8001. how many african-american 1917-1919?uld serve what did the british and french allies think of those soldiers? guest: during the war, 400,000 african-americans served during world war i. 200,000 of those went overseas. that was the number that served. when they went overseas, a

portion of the african-americans served under the french, the 93rd infantry division, which included 4 african-american regiments. when they served under the french, they were treated with a level of equality that they have not experienced in america. the french treated them as equal. they were happy to get these soldiers. the time the7, by u.s. entered the war, it has been going on three years for the french and british. british forces, when you talk about african-americans, there is very little contact, if any, between african-americans and british forces during world war i. the british did have their colonial forces, west indian forces.

when you talk about african-american soldiers and their contact with european counterparts, in this exhibition, we not only interpret the story of african americans but also of black people throughout the globe, the black tdiaspora. when the french went to war, it was immediate in 1914. the british had 15,000 black colonial troops that went to war in 1914. colonies on had 4 the continent of africa. there was little contact between african-americans and the british but there was a lot between african-americans and the french and not only the 93rd division that fought with the french but you have almost 160,000+ african-american services of supply soldiers throughout ports

in france and making sure supplies get forwarded. there is that interest in seeing these african-americans, who are not the french colonial troops most french people have been reading about. host: 45 minutes left in the segment. we want to hear from you, questions, comments as we go to this exhibit with you, learn about the history and let you ask your questions. david on the line for african-american veterans, detroit, you are on with the colonel. caller: thank you, washington journal and colonel salter, thank you. i am just finishing up this wonderful book. red."blood runs are you familiar with eugene bullard? guest: absolutely. he is interpreted within the exhibition. caller: ok.

i was wondering. i had not heard you mention him up to now. host: we will let you pick it up. guest: he was not one of the first. he was the first african-american fighter pilot, combat pilot. let's talk about that definition. tuskegeeno mistake airmen in world war ii where the first african-american combat pilots to fly for the united states. eugene bullard flew for the french. when you talk about that contact -- the u.s. was not training african-americans to fly. eugene bullard was already in france before the war started. when we talk about what was life like for americans, african-americans before the war? he was from columbus, georgia.

his father got into a scuffle with his boss. they left town. eugene made his way to france. he was a boxer. he joined the french foreign legion. he is interpreted three times in the exhibition. the global war. we are in the gallery. he joined french foreign legion, was wounded at one of the two bloodiest battles, 1916. then he became a pilot, he flew with the french. the continuation of his story, where we interpret him after the war, is also part of that. he owns a club for a short time. he is a manager of many clubs. he is one of the drummers. we have footage in this exhibition of him playing drums. interpretedrd,

within this exhibition. he is a key to the african-american experience during world war i, although he served with the french. host: another individual story explored. sergeant thomas shaw. guest: sergeant thomas shaw represents what we talked about earlier. what is going on with the black experience between 1865-1917. he was a buffalo soldier, the ninth calvary regiment. 1891 awarded the medal of honor. his particular story, they were fighting in mexico. they were outnumbered, 3-1. he exposed himself in what we call today, suppressive fire, to allow his comrades to survive that particular battle.

he is interpreted within exhibition, a story develops around artifacts. honor at thedal of smithsonian national museum of african-american history and culture. we used his individual story to highlight the fact, 18 buffalo soldiers and seminole negro indian scouts. that is a distinction. it was 14 buffalo soldiers and 4 seminole negro indian scouts, awarded. there were also those who served in the navy awarded the medal of honor and six african-americans awarded it during the spanish-american war. five soldiers and one sailor. honor, shaw's medal of to not just highlight him, but

the fact that african-americans had been serving their country since the american civil war but actually african-americans have been serving their country before the boston massacre, which is where we often start at. they have served in all wars, the colonial war as well. host: african-american veterans have a special line we have set aside, (202)-748-8002. we would love to hear from you. phone lines open for everyone else. eastern, central time zones. (202)-748-8001, mounted and pacific -- mountain/pacific time zones. caller: good morning, colonel salter, thank you for your service. is it true when african-american soldiers would come back to america, if they are fighting for this country, they would be attacked or lynched if they had uniforms on? is that true?

guest: it is true african-american veterans were lynched during the red summer. we have interpretation of that. the red summer was not just a three month period of the calendar year summer. andtarts on april 1, 1919 runs through november, 1919. in this country after african-americans go, close ranks, put their grievances aside, as w.e.b. dubois said, and they go to fight to make the world safe for democracy, as the president said, juxtaposed against what randall said, they come back to bloodier than, 1914.1915,

and that interpretation, we thought about, how do you make this red summer pop? a lot of us read about it in textbooks. exhibition tells the story, a picture is worth 1000 words. when you come here, you see those nearly 40 riots that happened throughout the country. most of them in the southeast. then you see this note at the bottom. 53 separate lynchings happened. during the red summer. how do you make it pop? identified 12and veterans who were lynched during the red summer and their names are on that graphic. there were veterans who were lynched in 1919 after world war i.

i will tell the story one, i'm sorry, go ahead. host: tell the story, please. their ise last name on leroy johnston. when you come to the exhibition, the 12 name, leroy johnston, from elaine, arkansas. a lot of us historians know about the riot in elaine, arkansas, late september, early october, 1919. he and three brothers came back from a hunting trip and all 4 of them were killed. the key thing about leroy johnston is all soldiers service is key, whether combat unit or service/supply unit. he survive europe. he was in the 369th infantry regiment, what we know as the harlem health fighters -- the harlem hell fighters.

he served, was a veteran, came back, and was lynched. each one of those soldiers has a story. that is one that would be interesting to highlight based on your question. thank you for asking. host: they picture is worth 1000 words. a flag might be worth 1000 words. we have been showing viewers images of a flag, a man was lynched yesterday. so, when we talk about why this exhibition is, -2020 the title, we returned to fighting, the experience of african-americans was not just about the battlefield. based on what we talked about, when you are immersed in the exhibition coming in, learning about black life, then you come to this area where we have 13 interpretations, this great

photo gallery behind me, then you go to the end of the exhibition, what happens after the war? , thisw negro emerges aggressive african-american community who is no longer willing to accept the status quo that they had been living in before the war, after hearing those comments. is they madep did this flag and they hung it over headquarters in new york for 18 years, 1920-1938. they did it based on what you said is on the flag. a man was lynched yesterday. highlight,was to this is still going on in this country. somewhere there is a log, i cannot tell you how many days it flew, but every day after a man was lynched, the naacp hung that

flag over headquarters. the key thing about that flag is it is owned by the library of congress. temporary exhibition. it is not really something we want to collect all of these items. some items are one-of-a-kind. they gave that to us on loan. when it comes off exhibition, june 14, because it is a textile, it will go into storage for another 10 years. for those of us, like me, a historian, or a student reading books, and we saw that flag as an image, it is actually here. that is what the flag represents. it goes along with the red summer. what african-americans were doing and their white supporters, and that is key about the exhibition as well, and the museum. existow, museums should to tell inclusive stories. we are talking about people who are pushing the african-american experience forward, not just

african-americans. there is a representative from st. louis, missouri, leah oneida stier. he put forward an anti-lynching bill which never passed. that flag is just a strong image. naacp had the audacity to make this flag and hang it over headquarters. host: halfway through this, our final stop of our museum week series on washington journal, exploring d.c. area museums, talking about the american experience. we are at the smithsonian national museum of african-american history and culture. our guest, colonel krewasky salter -- taking your phone calls. (202)-748-8002 for african-american veterans. other phone lines split up

regionally. washington, d.c., up next with colonel salter. caller: as an african-american i am 84, howolder, does that exhibit, how is it related or has responded to by the millennial, the new group of young people, the millennials i think they call them? host: thank you. guest: yes, ma'am. thank you. from children as young as 10 i see coming in with to great senior americans as yourself in their 80's, everyone is responding to the exhibition very well throughout ages. as curators, our images are not

plastered all over the place. i would assume some of my colleagues do what i do often. i created the military galley, the permanent gallery on the third floor and was fortunate enough to cure this. i go through those galleries incognito. incognito, i know what is in the exhibition. i am standing next to individuals, watching people. i will tell you, young and old, in between, of all races, nationalities -- i was here with a couple french people yesterday afternoon, they are responding well -- people get it. one of the things impressed on all of us as inaugural curators by individuals in the museum arena a long time was to tell a story that resonates. tell the unvarnished truth story. tell the story people need to hear, not necessarily what they

want to hear. i have learned that is why everybody is responding well. people can also see themselves. everyone can almost see themselves in this exhibition. nine luminary individuals, six men, three women, seven civilians, two soldiers. millennials can see themselves in people like a philip randolph, just a fiend baker -- josephine baker, two of those younger people who are there age in 1917 and 1927. everyone is responding to it well, from what i see and what we hear. host: on that line for african-american veterans, nathaniel, smyrna, georgia. guest: thank you for that question. caller: colonel salter, thank you for serving.

guest: thank you, nathaniel. caller: i am a disabled veteran myself. guest: thank you for serving and i appreciate your service. war whereis is the when everyone came back, oklahoma city, where they dropped a bomb, kansas,, oklahoma they dropped a bomb on the black people coming up with their own schools, the kids dressed up going to class, going to school, then after the war was over, when everyone came back and they saw what was happening, they had a picnic and dropped a bomb on them. i believe you're talking about tulsa, oklahoma, 1921, after world war i. black wall street. there are a lot of ties to that story. i will answers short, tell the piece you are exactly

right, it happens after world war i, 1921. we interpret tulsa in this exhibition. everything that fits together. there is a key story not in this exhibition that folks don't know about. hooks,s a woman, olivia the first african-american, a woman in the coast guard, world war ii. just like josephine baker who experienced the east st. louis riots, 1917, went on to be what she became. hooks experienced the tulsa, oklahoma riot, 1921. she just passed away a couple years ago. that incident did happen after world war i. bomb dropped in tulsa? can you give some background? olivia hooker tells in

her story, a lot of these attacks, there were people in uniform and some of them were local national guardsmen. there were bombs dropped in the city, burned from the top down. host: dropped from a military airplane? guest: i don't know if it was from a military airplane. that is part of the story i am not completely sure or whether it was artillery. i am not completely sure on that aspect of the story. host: questions from twitter. asking, black jack pershing, but he was like. he earned his nickname commanding black troops in the

spanish-american war. is that the history of that? guest: yeah. that not too far from my right side. he earned the name blackjack. he served with the buffalo soldiers. sort of allons are over the place. some folks use it as a term of endearment and some folks used it as a pejorative term. there was another name he was n,led that began with a because he had served with african-american troops. blackjack pershing did have a relationship with african-americans, soldiers, and he had a relationship with one of our luminaries, charles young. point a couple

years before charles young graduated in 1889. the name originates from his service with buffalo soldiers. host: uncle sam writing on twitter, was there ever any black generals in world war i? guest: no, there was not. the first african-american general was not promoted until 1940. senior, theavis highest-ranking african-american, during world war i, was a gentle man i just referred to, colonel charles young. he has interpreted several times throughout the exhibition. the third african-american to graduate west point, 1889. world war i, he was a lieutenant colonel when the war started. board gone through the and was in line to be promoted to colonel.

retired foruntarily medical reasons. he was reinstated five days before the war ended and there is a story behind that. there were no african-american general officers during world war i. host: tony, newport, tennessee. caller: good morning. a couple of things. i was in vietnam. 1965-66 and my father was also a military man. i didn't know about being prejudice. i was on army bases most of the time with my parents. when i wound up going to fort bragg, 3:00 in the morning by train, i noticed a slave market was still in the middle-of-the-road down there. signs on the wall that said,

shop between seventh and ninth. [indiscernible] space, -- white women doing the maps, backgrounds, because they did not have computers. it was three black women, kathleen johnson, dorothy spencer, i think, and there was one more, mary jackson? host: thank you for bringing it up. all, thank you for your service, thank you for being one of our great americans who serve our country, especially during the vietnam war. i believe the gist of the see,ion is that he did not i am not sure i picked up on all of it, but he did not experience or see a lot of racism until he

went to north carolina and he is probably talking fort bragg, north carolina. he said he saw a sign, black shop between 7:00 and 9:00. i think his question is, even in the 1960's, you still had some of this going on. if that is his question, you know, that is absolutely correct. america is still not a perfect country. although military led the way as far as the institution to integrate in the 1950's, you still had turbulent times going on in the 1960's. i can think of three different stories of retired african-american senior enlisted soldiers and officers, still living today, who came in the military in the 1960's and were still experiencing some level of racism when they were assigned

to certain locations and perhaps they wanted to buy a house or go off base and eat at a hamburger establishment. i think his question is that, john. host: thank you for jumping in. i should have mentioned, when you were talking the history of african-american military officers, a good book on that topic, the story of black military officers, 1861-1948. the author of that book, sitting with us this morning. guest: [laughter] host:host: taking your phone calls. on the line for african-american veterans. caller: i cannot believe this, absolute serendipity. this is only the third time i have been able to get through to c-span. for me to get through this time, i don't know where to start. i will speak quickly.

colonel salter, i have to get in touch with you. i think we may be related. i have five of the most beautiful, i mean, huge, portraits and they are all salters. guest: [laughter] caller: where are you from? there are stamps on the back, 1868, 1870. the other thing, my husband's m rockther was on the news, in the office outside with the people in cologne. that is the first thing. the other thing is, i'm so excited, i can't believe this, james monroe trotter is the great great uncle of my husband. mary church terrell is my great aunt, great great aunt on my mother side. related but are

that you are related on all these people on different sides of my family. turrell?otter and caller: trotter is on my husband side. thompson, carol thompson, on the m rock news and my husband, james monroe trotter, obviously -- colonel aill give the chance to talk about his background. thank you for calling in with that. john, youst of all, caught me off guard. thanks for the plug. i did not know you would mention the book. to the caller, thank you so much. there was a lot there. one thing. terrell,ow mary church we pronounce it mary church terrell. most people listening are saying it is mary church terrel. working at the museum, two of my

colleagues, the reason she is interpreted in the exhibition, so is william monroe trotter, they were going to collect the items and the family said, we do not pronounce it terrell, we pronounce it terrel. to get to your question, i am a 25 year, american soldier, my father is an american soldier, served 34 years. he is from southern alabama, age seven moved to panama city, florida. the salter part of my family is from alabama. you can get in touch with me through the smithsonian. they will pass the info on. the salter family is very large and it would be interesting to find out what those connections are. as a historian, being at this

museum, i get some of my colleagues and there is one of my colleagues who recently learned, from looking at the index in the back of my book, is that her great-grandfather or her great grand uncle was one of the african-american officers in the native guards of louisiana. get in touch with me. through this missoni and. -- the smithsonian, and we will see. host: 20 minutes left to explore the exhibit. walkt to let viewers around the exhibit in the form of a sketchbook you have. who is horace pippen? guest: great question. the exhibition tells a story in many ways. this is a story about the african-american experience, world war i.

we have these objects which are actually in the cultural part of the exhibition, because when people hear horace pippen, a lot of people say, yes, i know him, our harlem renaissance, negro renaissance artist. we have a painting in the exhibition called dogfight over the battlefield. a very famous painting by horace pippen, 1935. to go back to your specific question, the sketchbook -- we also have his sketchbook on display which he wrote in 1920. in that sketchbook, i think i know this almost verbatim he seen threeday i german and one french plane

coming down. perhaps this is the inspiration." the 1935 painting. who was horace pippen? horace pippen was a veteran of world war i who served in the trenches, 369th infantry regiment known as the harlem hell fighters, went in the trenches with the infantry as early as april, 1918. shot his first german. he talks about that on the 14th of april. he is badly wounded, late september. that is why horace pippen was that painter, i forget which arm, that painted with one hand. he is one of those world war i veterans who, because of his experience in the war, he

painted a lot of paintings that really resonated. we have his sketchbook and the painting, both of those on loan, the sketchbook from the smithsonian archives in the hirschmore. that is who horace pippen was. there are a lot of stories like that. a lot of people would be surprised to learn about people who they know, and he was a world war i veteran. if i were to say, charles houston right now, 95% of the people listening who know charles hamilton houston, yeah, he is a lawyer, and that is exactly who he was. he trained one third of the african-american lawyers at 1940 and 1950ool, in america. thurgood marshall. he became a lawyer. he served as an officer in the

368 infantry regiment in world war i. when he came back from the war, because of the horrible experience he had, he made his father's dream come true. his father was a lawyer and always wanted him to be a lawyer. charles hamilton houston finally decided to become a lawyer because of his experience in world war ii. horace pippen, charles houston and a few others. world war i was a transformative event for many reasons. when we get to the point where setting and planting the seeds of the civil rights movement, thurgood marshall writes, charles hamilton houston dies, 1951, 1952 or 1953 he says, we would not have gotten anywhere or be where we are without charlie. he is referring to charles hamilton houston. we all know the history of thurgood marshall. host: less than 15 minutes left

in the segment. a lot of calls. virginia,emporia african-american veterans. caller: how are you? host: doing well, you are on with colonel salter. caller: i was in the navy, 1955. there was a lot of discrimination going on then. short, i long story was on one vessel. i was sent there to be the bomber. they did not want me to be the bomber. i was rated. e1. doing my job -- [indiscernible] aboard,er ship i went they may be the master at arms. i was in charge of the laundry. they did not want me to write anything.

when i got ready to transfer from the ship, they rode up evaluation on me. they weren't supposed to do that. when they wrote the evaluation up, they gave me as low as they could get me. my parents they put me, not observed. i have my orders, went to the executive officer, second-in-command. i asked, sir, how can they evaluate me and never seen me? look what they got me for my evaluation. he told me, said, boy, only thing i can tell you, square yourself away when you get to your next duty station. tears rolling down my cheeks. i wasn't there for 90 days. three months before they evaluated. host: what do you take from that? thank you for sharing your story. guest: thank you for your service, william. i was going to ask how long he

was in the navy. my mother's brother served in the navy 20 years around that same time. ebb and flow. the caller has bad experiences serving in the navy, 1965, and there are people serving in the navy today who are having bad expenses for whatever reason. 1955, the navy was a service like most others, who had already begun to integrate. the navy had their first african-american officers 12 years before our caller, william, again, thanks for your service, certainly, 1955, you have to remember the american military is made up, any military is made up of the people of the country they live in and that is the beauty of our democracy.

i certainly understand and appreciate william had some bad experiences. but the navy on the other hand was also making progress in the 1950's. thank you for your service. i wish i could talk to you longer to find out how things eventually turned out for you. host: melvin, fort pierce, florida, on that line for african-american veterans. caller: good morning. colonel salter, thank you for your service. just wanted to say that. also, i am working with a nonprofit, because for the it is ase of the breve, veterans nonprofit organization. i was wondering, how can we get detailed info, accurate, out like this on a yearly or year-round basis as opposed to just being segmented to the month of february? also, what could organizations,

such as cause of the brave do to obtain information or set up museums or locations to have that information available to the public? host: excellent questions. guest: thank you, melvin for your question and what you do for our veterans. you said a lot of things. i'm listening closely. one of the things you said was, as opposed to only black history we like to say and i say this all the time, every month is african-american history month. i am a military historian and african-american historian. yes, the way you can get this information out all year is to continue to do what you do and if you have time to visit the exhibition before it closes, the 14th of june, this year. a temporary exhibition has a shelf life and a book also has a

shelf life. i hope you can see this book. we were fortunate enough, our deputy director conwell got a lot of us together, our advisors and after listening to me talk to her on our stories, she said, we should do a companion book. you can buy this book. the shelflife of this exhibition and on the 14th of june. if you put this on your bookshelf, the shelflife is forever. it has the same short title of "we returnbition fighting." the long title is world war i and the shaping of modern black identity. that goes to what we talked about, how world war i set the stage and planted the seeds for the civil rights movement. this book, and we are always taught about, exhibition is not a book on the wall, because coming into this arena as a

museum profession and as a historian, we like to wax eloquently, so the book actually allows us to put more information than what is in the exhibition. you can use this book, because it is written by myself and five other scholars, our founding director writes the intro and epilogue. that is one way you can keep this story alive beyond the closing of the exhibition. host: new york city, denise. thank you for waiting. caller: hi, good morning. a pleasure to speak with you. my grandfather served in world war i. 369th, he was one of the harlem hell fighters, and he served in company d. most of the time, you only hear 9th.t company c of the 36

they were a little more famous. is there anyway you can get information on -- i am trying to get information like pictures and everything, that you can get on all the companies a, b, c, d? guest: yes, ma'am. first of all, specifically, i want to go in a different direction based on what you said, 1918, so, those records and a lot of that history would be number one, in the national archives, downtown, d.c., also unit records in the national archives, college park. i cannot tell you exactly where that info might be located in

either one of those. the individual service records would be either here in washington dc or, if they survived, in st. louis. unit records would probably be in college park. 369th armory is still in new york city. they may have some information. there are a number of books written recently, one of our scholarly advisors, they wrote the book on the rattlers. if you go to the footnote, you will see a lot of where they got their information. i want to talk about, we keep talking about the 369th. i also want you and our viewers to know that the 369th was one of eight african-american regiments that fought. they get recognition for several reasons. because they are known, we have an interpretation that really focuses on them but they were

just 1/8 of the african-american regiments that fought in the trenches. for me as a historian, when you say companies, i can't tell you the story of every company but i think those 4 locations and a couple books and footnotes may direct you to some info you are looking at were looking for. -- you are looking at or looking for. host: five minutes left this morning. john's been waiting on the african-american veterans line, lake village, arkansas. caller: good morning. how are you? host: doing well. guest: how are you? caller: i just wanted to make known blacks have sacrificed, even in the 1960's, we were still being mistreated. rotc, officers, camp, a lot of people did not want us to make it as officers.

my brother went in and 1966, and i never saw no more black rotc people to the south. people know we sacrificed a lot military people to serve our country. host: yes, sir. mr. salter, do you want to expand? guest: i believe his question and his comment was putting much on the same line as the earlier caller on 1955, certainly, into the 1960's, 1970's, there were still racism in our services because, again, the u.s. military is made up of a microcosm of america. there are always those juxtapositions because many of our retired generals and admirals who came in the

military as early as the late 1940's, 1950's, 1960's, -- my father was drafted in 1951. -- my father who was drafted in experienced some level of racism, obviously, in the 1960's, but he stayed in the military 34 years. certainly, that was happening in the 1960's. because there were always going to be people who are not exactly happy that everybody is a part of this american pie. that is why this exhibition is so important. people have to continue to be informed, continue to agitate , and to move our country forward so we continue to be the greatest country on the face of the globe. host: colonel salter, two minutes left in our segment, but did want to give you a chance -- i know it is a temporary exhibit, and it is hard to pick,

but do you have a favorite piece or story want to mention our final two minutes? guest: absolutely. that question always ends like this. wherever i am in the gallery, because, almost every story is great, so i will talk about where i sit now. i happen to be sitting in the photo gallery. as curators, we are the face of an exhibition. there are a lot of people that help us get from a to b. museum specialists, research assistants, project managers, conservators, so forth and so on. designers. in one of the design meetings, i mentioned, i would like to have a photo gallery. this is a beautiful photo gallery designed. today, because i am sitting here, this is my favorite section of the exhibition. of the 30 some odd interpretations, i believe all of them come together well. it is hard for me to pick one of

my favorites. host: understandable. colonel krewasky salter, curator of the exhibit, we return fighting, the african-american experience in world war i. it opened on december 13 and it will close june 14, at the smithsonian national museum of african-american history and culture and we appreciate you inviting us in this morning. thank you very much, sir. guest: thank you, john. we appreciate it. we appreciate it. >> we have more from campaign 2020 today with president trump. he is holding a campaign rally in las vegas, nevada. you can watch that live at 3:00 p.m. eastern on c-span them online at c-span.org, or the free c-span radio app. ♪ join us saturday at six clock p.m. eastern for the results of the nevada caucuses.

candidateesults, speeches from joe biden, senator bernie sanders, elizabeth warren, and amy klobuchar, pete buttigieg and tom steyer, and your calls about campaign 2020. live coverage on c-span, on-demand on c-span.org or listen live on the free c-span radio app. >> up next, former assistant secretary of state victoria nuland and other foreign policy experts discuss human rights and democracy around the world since the cold war. florida international university and the mccain institute hosted this hour-long discussion. it is part of an annual conference. gathered ato those the state of the world conference. i salute your efforts to address today's for policy challenges and the role of american leadership in the world. it is important to rbe