FRAGMANTS | Toni Frissell

The United States Army, which was subject to the Jim Crow laws - a derogatory term for blacks - which established absolute segregation between blacks and whites, made sure to religiously preserve the laws of segregation even during the war. Due to the war and its demands, for the first time in history African Americans were allowed to serve as pilots. A special unit with a uniform skin tone was established as early as 1938 and made its first flight overseas only in 1943.

The American photographer, Toni Frissell, who had already made a name for herself as a well-known photographer even before the outbreak of the war, documented the corps and increased awareness of the contribution of African Americans to the US Army and the war effort.

Jim Crow laws were abolished in 1965.