Camp Howze Museum

Title

"Dear Mr. President" by Miss Maude Gray

Description

In this recording, Miss Maude Gray of Austin, TX relays her concerns regarding the mistreatment and discrimination black soldiers, like her brother, were forced to endure as service members in the U.S. military. She asks President Roosevelt to understand that black Americans want to serve in the military honorably. She explains why black Americans need the president's help to ensure they are treated with dignity and offered the same opportunities to serve their country as all willing, able-bodied Americans.

Transcript:
Miss Maude Gray speaks about her brother and other black soldiers’ experience with racist treatment in the military and by authorities unwilling to hire them. “…I got a brother who’s in the army….when he left here he was mighty glad to get in the army. I don’t know whether he’s so glad to be there now from all the letters I’ve been gettin from him. Mind you, I don’t mean that he’s against our country or anything like that, but he’s not so satisfied with the treatment that he’s gettin up there, he thinks that it could be a little better….” The young woman goes on to describe degrading mistreatment of her brother and his fellow black soldiers. She mentions public fears of race riots as the justification for keeping black soldiers from accessing and training with weapons. “They don’t have any entertainment for them, whereas the white soldiers have lounges, and guest houses, and everything that they could wish for as far as facilities will permit while our boys don’t have anything but a post exchange. And that’s not very good for entertainment and when that’s all he has to do. I think they could stand that if they were just treated a little better when it comes to other things that are most important duties, promotions. The navy won’t let you in. The army, when they get you, it put you off somewhere off by yourself…”

Date

1942

Source

Faulk, John Henry, and Bill Grumbles. "Dear Mr. President," Granbury, Austin, and Hood County, Texas, January or February. Austin, Texas, 1942. Audio. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc1942003_sr34/.

Subject

Racism

World War II

WWII

World War 2

WW2

U.S. Military

U.S. Army

Austin, TX

President Franklin Roosevelt

Dear Mr. President

Miss Maude Gray

Camp Howze

segregation

audio recording