Despite being white, I've always been pretty fascinated with the black experience in America. But like all areas of history once it ventures into the realm of the popular, hero worship, stereotypes and gross generalizations tend to distort our view of things.
Much has been written about black soldiers during the US Civil War and after World War II. I'm interested in the soldiers in between, from the Buffalo Soldier era and beyond World War I, especially the experience of soldiers and their families during and right after the Spanish-American War and the Philippine Insurrection. Are there any good collections of diaries, letters, or books written by black soldiers or their families? This can be either a collection published in book-form, websites, or holdings at state or university archives.
I was first introduced to the racial issues of the Philippine War by Howard Zinn (not a great historian in my view but a good writer who introduced me to some new areas of US history at the time) while I was in college. I'd like to do some primary research in the area but since it's such a small topic, and not as popular as the Civil Rights movement or the experience of Civil War veterans, it tends not to be have a prominent place in archives holdings.
Any help would be appreciated, as always!
Welcome to the field and buckle up, it gets pretty awful (source and content wise) After the Civil War and up to World War I, there were four units for African-American soldiers. The 24th and 25th Infantry and the 9th and 10th Cavalry. All four Battalions served in the Indians Wars and Spanish-American War.
But here's the kicker, sources are hella hard to come by, many troops were illiterate (hence, no letters home) or in many cases, archives haven't made any strides in collecting African-American documentation to preserve. So sources can be few and far between, though some do exist.
For secondary materials you should check out this site which is hyperlinked to names and other general information you might like such as David Fagen, one of the African-American soldiers who joined the Filipino Guerillas.
For the Black World War I experience I suggest [The American Negro in the World War] (http://net.lib.byu.edu/estu/wwi/comment/scott/ScottTC.htm) by E.J. Scott. Dated as hell but a fantastic primary source and Freedom Struggles by Adriane Lentz-Smith which is the go-to secondary source for the motivations, politics and battles of the World War I African-American soldier.
I do have some more primary sources on my work computer so some time around monday I can send you a PM if you're still interested.