[KOREAN WAR]. Photograph album featuring African American sailors during the Korean War.

9 x 12 in. album documenting the Navy life of African American seamen who served aboard the aircraft carrier USS Leyte (CV-32) during the early years of the Korean War.

Contains about 100 photographs ranging in size from 2 3/4 x 1 7/8 in. to 10 x 8 in., most mounted recto/verso on 22 album album pages (some images unmounted; many album pages blank), and additional newspaper clippings, documents, and other ephemera mounted and loose, including the 14 October 1950 issue of the Daily Press News detailing the USS Leyte's actions and recording Ensign Jesse L. Brown's first combat flight as an African American Naval Aviator; the 15 December 1950 issue of 32's News (the Leyte's shipboard newspaper) which includes an obituary for the same Ensign Brown, who was reportedly shot down on a mission behind enemy lines near the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea; and multiple W-2 slips for Seaman James G. Watson.

Among the photographs are some captioned portraits of sailors including Harvey Thomas, James Kincaid, Leo Bowser, and "Lippy Connor[?]. A few casual snapshots are captioned "Watson" (perhaps the James G. Watson of the W-2 slips), and another is captioned "Boby Mitchell." One of the most striking photographs, captioned "The GTMO Four," is an 8 x 10 photograph of four sailors, 3 of whom wear sunglasses, standing and looking tough and ready to go. Some of the photographs record leisure time in which subjects engage in athletic pursuits, nightlife, and dates with Filipino women; and others include portraits of likely family members and friends of the compiler.

An intimate look at life for African American seamen serving during the Korean War through candid and posed photography, featuring almost exclusively African American subjects.

Images mostly fair, with some soiling and wear consistent with age and significant perusal. Album with missing cover, some pages loose from binding, and nearly all pages with chipping and flaking to edges.

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American Historical Ephemera & Photography, including African Americana

[KOREAN WAR]. Photograph album featuring African American sailors during the Korean War.

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