The City of Aurora’s Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) Military Museum, 23 East Downer Place, Aurora, will highlight the contributions, struggles, and lasting impact of African American service people in the 19th and 20th Century.
The G.A.R. Museum is open Wednesday through Friday from noon to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Museum is at in the heart of Downtown Aurora.
“The War on Two Fronts” explores the acts of heroism and bravery enacted by African American soldiers in American conflict, including the Harlem Hellfighters and other segregated units. The invaluable contributions to American victories by these individuals are explored—alongside the sharp contrast of how these same soldiers faced discrimination and violence once they returned to the home front.
“Black Soldiers were actually under the command of the French Army rather than the American. Jim Crow Laws segregated schools, buses, diners, and even banned Black Americans from some theaters In France, these laws did not exist. For the first time in their lives, Black Americans were able to eat in the same section as white patrons, sit anywhere on the bus, and received more equitable treatment from the French command,” Museum Director Eric Pry said.
The period of the Great Migration—when Black Americans moved out of the rural South to the Midwest and Northeast during the mid-20th century—took place in the midst of this war and post-war era, which the exhibit highlights.
Panels feature key groups and individuals in history whose presence help tell the story of African American roles in American wartime. These include the Buffalo Soldiers, the first Black regiment of the U.S. Army during the Indian Wars.
And, while the exhibit contextualizes the battles African Americans fought abroad and across the American South, especially, the G.A.R. exhibit also draws attention to the distinctive role Chicago’s community played in this historical era.
“The War on Two Fronts” closes on the Red Summer of 1919, a time when hundreds of black Chicago residents were left homeless after a black child was killed for accidentally swimming into the “whites only” section in Lake Michigan, sparking massive riots and violence.
“This exhibit examines both the national contributions of Black Americans and highlights the local men and women who served our nation,” Pry said.
For more details, please visit www.aurora-il.org/GAR.
—City of Aurora government