In 2012, the Presidio Trust continues its popular Contemporary Historians at the Presidio lecture series. Talks by nationally known historians cover large themes in American and world history, and put the Presidio into context as a former military post and an innovative national park.

The Racial Integration of the United States Army: From World War II to the War in Afghanistan

Featuring Quintard Taylor

This talk will focus on the decline in racial segregation in the U.S. military, exploring the accuracy of the often repeated statement that the integration of the U.S. military led the rest of the nation to accept racial integration. Mr. Taylor will look at the theory of integration as envisioned by the Pentagon right after World War II and how that theory was applied down to the lowest ranks. The impact of the integration of the U.S. military on nearby civilian communities will be examined with particular reference to the community of Seaside, California.

Quintard Taylor, the Scott and Dorothy Bullitt Professor of American History at the University of Washington, is the author of The Forging of A Black Community: Seattle’s Central District from 1870 through the Civil Rights Era and In Search of the Racial Frontier: African Americans in the America West, 1528-1990. In 2008 he edited From Timbuktu to Katrina: Readings in African American History. The following year his book, America-I-Am Black Facts: The Story of a People Through Timelines, 1601-2000, was released. His most recent book is Dr. Sam: Soldier, Educator, Advocate, Friend: An Autobiography which Taylor co-authored.

• October 25: Jay Winter - Filming War
• November 15: K. Scott Wong - Americans First: Chinese Americans and the Second World War