The Civil Rights Struggle, African American GIs and Germany

The purpose of this site is to provide the general public with information and updates about our current traveling photo exhibition “The Civil Rights Struggle, African-American GIs, and Germany,” as well as to supply a condensed version of the information found at our main webpage. The focus of both the photo exhibition and the main website are the interactions between African American civil rights activists and Germans East and West.

Our research project explores the connection between the U.S. military presence abroad and the advancement of civil rights in the U.S. We investigate the role that African-American GIs played in carrying the civil rights movement to Germany, which was host to the largest contingent of U.S. troops deployed outside the U.S.

Between 1945 and the end of the Cold War, some 15-20 million American soldiers, families and civilian employees lived in Germany. Between 2-3 million of those Americans were African American. By giving voice to their experience and to that of the people who interacted with them, we will expand the story of the African-American civil rights movement beyond the boundaries of the U.S.

On our main website you will find pictures, interviews, and documents. The information found here makes up the basis for the current photo exhibition that is circulating across the globe. It is this exhibition that this site will follow primarily. Updates on the exhibition will be posted for your convenience on the home page.