Research Catalog

Details

Description

1. .2 lin. ft. (1 volume)

Summary

1. The memoirs are written in a narrative form, and begin at the point that Dyer decided to enlist in the Army, through the Armistice, his return to the States and discharge from the Army. Dyer briefly discusses the period spent at Ft. Des Moines and Camp Funston and the voyage to France. He gives his impressions of the people and his surroundings in Brest, France where his Division landed, and other cities and towns where they traveled as they made their way to the Western Front. Once at the front he describes some of his experiences there, which are also impressionistic. There are no descriptions of battles, only of the death and destruction caused by the bombings and battles. He barely discusses his medical duties, makes some mention of racial incidents and the existence of segregation and racism in the Army.

Subject

1. World War, 1914-1918 > Personal narratives, American
2. African American soldiers
3. Race discriminationxzUnited States
4. Photographs
5. African American physicians
6. United States > Army > African American troops > History > 19th century
7. Soldiers > United States > Diaries
8. World War, 1914-1918 > African Americans
9. Diaries
10. Dyer, William Holmes
11. Brest (France) > Social life and customs
12. Memoirs

Genre/Form

1. Diaries.
2. Memoirs.
3. Photographs.

Call number

1. Sc MG 385

Additional formats (note)

1. Transcript available.

Terms of use (note)

1. Photocopying restricted to transcripts.

Source (note)

1. Brummel, Shirley;
2. Shirley Brummel

Biography (note)

1. William Holmes Dyer was an African-American physician in Kansas who served in World War I. While in Kansas he was a member of the staff at Old General Hospital and was the medical examiner for Standard Life Insurance Company. Dyer was appointed a First Lieutenant in the Medical Reserve Corps of the 92nd Division, which saw action in France. He was trained at the special training camp for black officers at Ft. Des Moines, Iowa and was later assigned to the 317th Sanitary Train at Camp Funston, Kansas. In June of 1918 he set sail for France.

Processing action (note)

1. Accessioned

Author

1. Dyer, William Holmes.

Title

1. William Holmes Dyer memoirs, 1917-1918.

Additional formats

1. Transcript available.

Terms of use

1. Photocopying restricted to transcripts.

Biography

1. William Holmes Dyer was an African-American physician in Kansas who served in World War I. While in Kansas he was a member of the staff at Old General Hospital and was the medical examiner for Standard Life Insurance Company. Dyer was appointed a First Lieutenant in the Medical Reserve Corps of the 92nd Division, which saw action in France. He was trained at the special training camp for black officers at Ft. Des Moines, Iowa and was later assigned to the 317th Sanitary Train at Camp Funston, Kansas. In June of 1918 he set sail for France.

Connect to:

1. Finding Aid

Research call number

1. Sc MG 385