Footprints of African Americans in Alexandria is a thoughtful and focused book that is based on the premise of sharing knowledge, history, and inspiration regarding the African American experience, building on the knowledge with biographies of over two hundred individuals who have made or are making progress and positive changes possible.

Sitting just south of the nation's capital, Alexandria has a long and storied history." "Still, little is known of Alexandria's twentieth-century African American community. Experience the harrowing narratives of trials and triumph as Alexandria's African Americans helped to shape not only their hometown but also the world around them. Rutherford Adkins became one of the first black fighter pilots as a Tuskegee Airman. Samuel Tucker, a twenty-six-year-old lawyer, organized and fought for Alexandria to share its wealth of knowledge with the African American community by opening its libraries to all colors and creeds. Discover a vibrant past that, through this record, will be remembered forever as Alexandria's beacon of hope and light.

"At the beginning of the Civil War, Federal troops secured Alexandria as Union territory. Former slaves, called contrabands, poured in to obtain protection from their former masters. Due to overcrowding, mortality rates were high. Authorities seized an undeveloped parcel of land on South Washington Street, and by March 1864, it had been opened as a cemetery for African Americans. Between 1864 and 1868, more than 1,700 contrabands and freedmen were buried there. For nearly eighty years, the cemetery lay undisturbed and was eventually forgotten. Rediscovered in 1996, it has now been preserved as a monument to the courage and sacrifice of those buried within. Author and researcher Char McCargo Bah recounts the stories of those men and women and the search for their descendants."-- back cover.

Blacks may have had a hard history on this land of the free. But they have never stepped back or just stayed on the sides while the world continues turning. In their own simple ordinary ways, they have made extraordinary contributions of works that benefitted society until today. In appreciation and recognition of some remarkable Black Louisianians, author Norman R. Smith honors them with the release of his newly published book, Footprints of Black Louisiana. Black men and women are proud of their heritage and they only want a chance to prove their worth to society. The author's collection unveils a mass of great Black Louisianians and he tells who they are and what they have done to make America a better place. He invites the reader to follow the Footprints of Black Louisiana as he spotlights: Black activist, philanthropists, civic and political leaders, businessmen, educators, religious leaders, musical, visual and literary artists, entertainers, scientists, inventors, medical professionals, and others who have made long lasting contribution to the world. This collection features distinct images of landmarks and significant buildings erected through the efforts of Black Louisianians.

Footprints of the Montford Point Marines explores historic information about the Montford Point Marines and also my dad, Corporal Thomas Mosley, while serving with the first group of African American Marines in the United States. This is the story of a brief period of his life, from Montford Point Camp to the Pacific in World War II, and seventy years later being awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by Congress. These men came from all parts of the United States to the South to train at a segregated facility called Montford Point Camp, adjacent to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, the largest all-purpose Marine base in the world. It had the best equipment for all types of military training, but these new black enlistees at the adjacent Montford Point Camp were not allowed to enter unless accompanied by a White officer—Camp Lejeune was exclusive to White Marines and their families only. With World War II looming, the government needed all hands on deck and created millions of new jobs in preparation but continued keeping Blacks out of the job market and housing. With the pressure imposed by groups such as the NAACP, President Franklin D. Roosevelt had to rethink these exclusions, at least in the federal workplace, and through negotiations with many groups, led by A. Philip Randolph, Executive Order 8802 was issued by President Roosevelt on June 25, 1941, to counter racial discrimination. The U.S. Marine Corps was part of the defense industry, and as a result had to open their ranks to African Americans who wished to serve. The Montford Point Marines became giants in the Asiatic Pacific and were some of the greatest heroes this country has ever known. Through swamps, hills, and worse terrain, under heavy enemy gunfire, they were able to supply ammunition, fuel, food, and medical supplies to troops on the front lines where most others had failed. They were also charged with removing the dead and wounded back to the safety of the ships waiting offshore. Eventually they were called to the front lines and fought in every major battle in the Pacific islands. Some seventy years later, on June 27, 2012, approximately four hundred of these brave men, mostly in their eighties and nineties, finally received their just recognition by receiving Congressional Gold Medals. Other families received the medal posthumously. From 1942 to 1949, the 19,168 Montford Point Marines paid the price so others could follow in their footprints to continue the legacy of the few, the proud, the Marines: Semper Fidelis (Always Faithful). They were also known as “The Chosen Few.”