Abstract
On March 7, 1919, hundreds of Pittsburghers lined downtown streets to watch the members of the 351st Field Artillery Regiment parade through the city. This regiment—made mostly of Pennsylvanians and largely of Pittsburghers—triumphed in World War I over the Axis overseas and racism in the military. A line of officers led some of the notable young men of Pittsburgh's African American community. Those who were aware of the sable-colored men's challenges in their nation's Army cheered them, as did others oblivious to the plight but impressed by the handsome straight-back soldiers who manned the lines of the French eastern front and held back the German advance. These were fighting men, although their commanders in basic training didn't think so.
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