When Black Nurses Were Relegated to Care for German POWs - HISTORY

On July 26, 1948, President Truman signed an executive order that desegregated the U.S. Armed Forces. The act was long overdue, particularly for African American nurses, who had just served in World War II. Though the United States had been at war against Hitler’s racist regime, Jim Crow segregation permeated American culture and the entire military—including the U.S. Army Nurse Corps. Black nurses who served in the war found themselves in one of two places— segregated bases with Black soldiers or German prisoner of war camps. At the segregated bases, Black nurses served in all-Black units, lived in “colored” barracks, worked in “colored” hospitals, ate in separate dining areas and socialized in segregated spaces on base. Along with the separate facilities, Black nurses endured racist treatment from local white residents in town, fellow white army officers, and even from German prisoners of war. During World War II, there were 371,683 German POWs who were captured in Europe and Norther

When Black Nurses Were Relegated to Care for German POWs | HISTORY By: Alexis Clark Black History When Black Nurses Were Relegated to Care for German POWs Before President Truman desegregated the U.S. military on July 26, in 1948, Black nurses had fewer—and less desirable—opportunities in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps. Alexis Clark (Credit: The National Archives) Published: July 26, 2018 Last Updated: June 30, 2025 (Credit: The National Archives) (Credit: The National Archives) On July 26, 1948, President Truman signed an executive order that desegregated the U.S. Armed Forces. The act was long ov

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