Double V Campaign: Honoring Black Veterans

The Freedom Museum salutes all African American Veterans, especially during Black History Month. During WW II, the Double V campaign was a slogan championed by the Pittsburg Currier, then the largest black newspaper in the United States, that promoted efforts towards democracy for civilian defense workers and for Blacks in the military.

On January 31, 1942, just weeks after the U.S. declared war on Japan and Germany, the Courier published a letter from twenty-six-year-old James G. Thompson, a defense worker in Wichita, Kansas.  Like most Black war workers at the time, Thompson could not work on the factory floor of the aircraft manufacturing company where he was employed.  He was confined to working in the factory cafeteria.

Thompson called for a “double V for victory” sign, with the first V standing for victory over the enemies from without and the second V for victory over enemies within, meaning those in the United States who limited freedoms of African Americans.

41st Engineers on parade at Ft. Bragg - 1945

The Courier picked up the theme and on February 7th, published on its front page a “Double V” insignia, announcing the “Democracy at Home-Abroad” slogan to test its popularity with their readers.  The initial response was overwhelming. The Currier ran a survey on October 24, 1942, to measure the impact of the campaign and 88 percent of its readers responded in support.  Black soldiers and sailors embraced the idea, and some even carved the Double V on their chests.

African Americans from almost every background embraced the idea that with the sacrifice of over one million Black men and women in various branches of the military during World War II and six million more working in defense plants, they would not allow Jim Crow to remain unchallenged either during or after the war.  Many historians see the Double V campaign as the opening salvo in the Civil Rights Movement and continued protests for racial Justice.

Interested in learning more about the experience of an African American soldier? Read our story on one of the Freedom Museum’s resident veterans - Captain Sylvester Henry Epps. He was an African American solider that fought against Poncho Via in Mexico and in the trenches of WWI as well as serving as a DC National Guard Soldier. His story is one of intrigue as we discover who he was and what he sacrificed for our country.

Sources:
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_V_campaign
WWII Museum: https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/double-v-victory