Royal A. Christian – författare

In 1919, Royal Christian privately published a memoir based on his experiences in World War I. However, the book has been lost to public knowledge for almost a century. Unlike traditional accounts of wartime experiences of African American soldiers serving on the western front in combat regiments or in the various labor battalions in France, Christian served as a professional valet for Colonel Moorhead C. Kennedy, the Deputy Director General of Transportation for the American Expeditionary Forces in Paris and London during the First World War. This narrative is a remarkable contribution to the history of African American men participating in WWI and the unintended consequences of the war in Europe to the development of the African American community. Pellom McDaniels III provides a lightly edited and annotated version of Christian's memoir, supplemented by an extensive introduction and numerous previously unpublished archival photos and documents.Trip to the Battlefields of Europe accounts both directly and indirectly for the challenges African Americans encountered in their efforts to serve the cause of freedom and democracy. Christian chronicles some of the inner workings of the American military and how race served as a barrier to opportunity. In addition, Christian's perspective as an African American man in Europe both during and after the war provides a window to the reader of what tens of thousands of black soldiers witnessed and experienced in their time overseas. Roy's Trip to the Battlefields of Europe offers a unique perspective on African American manhood, masculinity, and citizenship, advancing our understanding of how men like Christian negotiated their obligations to family, community, and themselves, within a society that maintained a deep and abiding attachment to the myth of white supremacy.

In 1917, the year the United States entered the Great War, Colonel Moorhead C. Kennedy, one of the most powerful men in the state of Pennsylvania and now the Deputy Director General of Transportation for the American Expeditionary Force, asked his African American valet if he would like to accompany him on an overseas mission. The valet''s reaction was "Yes, sir." And he, as he recounted years later, "at once had visions of France." So began Royal Christian''s odyssey in Europe. After a tumultuous crossing of the Atlantic as a third class steward on board a British steamship, he survived London''s aerial bombing and then celebrated the end of the war in that city''s streets. At last, he reached the long anticipated Paris, where he could admire the Eiffel Tower and the astonishing windows of Notre Dame.Royal Christian chronicled his extraordinary experiences in a memoir, Roy''s Trip to the Battlefields of Europe, that was privately published in 1919. Rich in historical details, cultural observations, and political reflections, this book is a vital testimony to the history of African American men participating in World War I. After almost a century, Pellom McDaniels III has unearthed this gem, providing an elegantly annotated edition of Christian''s memoir.Porter, Steward, Citizen nods both directly and indirectly to the challenges that African Americans encountered in their efforts to serve the cause of freedom and democracy, even as they were denied access to those rights by Jim Crow laws at home. Christian''s unique story vividly illustrates how the war helped African American men claim a sense of manhood tied to their military service, and their efforts to transform themselves and their families into full-fledged American citizens. While race often served as a barrier in the army, this book suggests that some black men managed to take advantage of their outsider-within status and thrive: elevating not only themselves but also their community within a society that maintained a deep and abiding attachment to the myth of white supremacy.