By Ryan Flahive

On Sunday, March 24 of the year 1918, a funeral was held at A.M.E. Zion Church. All of Prescott's civic orders were represented either by body or by individual members; the Welfare Committee of the Chamber of Commerce donated a six by three foot floral arrangement in the shape of an American flag; the church was filled to capacity with citizens offering their respects to friends and family. This funeral was for William King, the first Yavapai County soldier to die in service in the Great War, and one of only eleven African-Americans from Yavapai County drafted into service.

The funeral was noted in the Prescott Journal-Miner as "one of the largest and most impressive funerals ever witnessed in this city. The gathering consisted of members of both white and colored populations. A choir of colored vocalists rendered several impressive selections. Rev. Pollet made a short address, that the young soldier had gone forth to fight for his country and that he had given his life as effectively as though he had died on the battlefield." The overwhelming response to the young soldier's death noted in this article was a testimony to the allegiance of Prescottonians to their neighbors, friends, and families; blinded by neither color nor creed. 

African-Americans always had a good record of being good soldiers. During the Civil War, General Grant said "the colored troops fought nobly," and Colonel Theodore Roosevelt reported on the record of African-American troops during the Spanish-American War, "No troops could behave better than the colored soldiers." General Pershing has been quoted as to the courage and valor of the African-American troops during his term in service. However, these performances did not alter the white racist opinions. The fear of Black soldiers was predicated upon the southern white fears of arming a people they had so viciously persecuted and the ludicrous fear of Black attacks upon white women. The fear of a Southern backlash to African-Americans fighting for our country remained in the minds of legislators and politicians. 

On May 18, 1917, Congress enacted what came to be known as the Selective Service Law. It provided that men could be summoned for service in the place in which it would best suit the common good to call them to serve in the Great War. The law stated that no difference would be made between white and African-American citizens during the selection process. However, at the outbreak of the war with Germany, there seemed to be in America an epidemic of racial disturbances all of which were seized upon and magnified through the efforts of a well-directed German propaganda machine. During the drafting process, prominent African-American citizens and well known white philanthropists lobbied to begin a special division of African-American troops for service in the war to combat the infiltration of the German propaganda machine. The valiant efforts of African-Americans in the Civil War and the Spanish American War validated the government's choice to then draft Black soldiers. Thus in October of 1917, a local draft exemption board issued orders to eleven men who are to form the "special contingent of colored men to leave this county next week, to report to the offices of the board on the evening of Monday October 29th" (Miner, Oct 28, 1917). 

Seven of the eleven men left for Camp Funston in Kansas on Oct 30 of 1917. The farewell for the men included a banquet at Dougherty Hall and several speakers including P.W. O'Sullivan, Neil C. Clark, F.C. Whisman, W.W. Matthews, and Leonard Harris. The men were the last of several contingents to leave Yavapai County for training in 1917, and seven of only seventy-seven African-Americans from the youngest state of Arizona (as opposed to 8,308 white soldiers drafted from Arizona). A letter printed in the Miner from Charles C. McClendon, "one of the well known Prescott colored boys, who was a member of the special contingent which left this city last week for Camp Funston," presented a gleeful picture of life in military training; "We are all well and feeling fine at the present time. We have a nice place to stay and get plenty of good things to eat. All of the Prescott boys have made good and are non-commissioned officers" (Miner, Nov 8, 1917). He signed the letter Charles C. McClendon, 365th Infantry, Co. D, Camp Funston, Kansas. 

The young men from Yavapai County were drafted into the 365th Infantry of the 92nd Division of the United States Army. Draftees into the 92nd came from every state in the Union and reported to various camps around the United States including camps in Kansas, Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York. The division was brought to full strength of just over 28,000 men in May of 1918. Sailings from Hoboken, New Jersey, began on June 7 and the last troops arrived in France on July 12. 

Following its arrival in France, the 92d Division proceeded to the 11th (Bourbonne-les-Bains) Training Area. After several months of training in France, the African-American troops were ready to fight. Soldering for the African-Americans was a pleasant pastime as long as there were German soldiers around. The African-Americans went into the Great War with a spirit of the true soldier and they were determined to fight it out at the earliest possible moment. One African-American soldier was quoted as saying in regards to training in France, "No, sir, I am not going to France, I am going to Berlin and I may stop in France for a short time on the way." The 92nd Division soon established themselves as being cool and reliable fighters in the front line. Germans began to offer 400 marks for the capture of an African-American soldier. Nearly 1200 men of a force of 25,000 soldiers from the 92nd Division were killed in action during the Great War. 

It is unknown at this time what happened to the majority of African-American soldiers from Yavapai County in the Great War. We know that they were part of a brave and highly decorated division that took high casualties during several months of combat. The turnout for the funeral of William King, the first Yavapai County soldier lost while in the service, dying of pneumonia at Camp Funston before having a chance to take on the Germans in World War I, was an illustration of our respect to diversity. We can celebrate Black History Month by reflecting on the valiant efforts of local African-Americans who left for France to make the world safe for freedom, despite the lack of freedom they encountered in their own country. 

(Ryan Flahive is the Archivist at Sharlot Hall Museum.) 

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