[African-American Photographica]. Minor, Lewis

[Partially-Annotated Vernacular Photograph Album Belonging to Lewis Minor, an African-American Army Soldier in Europe]

[Mainly Germany: 1961-1964]. Twenty-two leaves, illustrated with ninety-one photographs in corner mounts, the first forty captioned in white ink on the album leaves. Oblong quarto. Contemporary red fabrikoid, belt bound, paper label on spine. Decorative stamping on front cover has faded significantly. Minor edge wear and soiling, top corner of front cover chipped. A few photos detached. Very good. Item #3064

A vernacular photograph album assembled by Lewis Minor, an African-American Army soldier stationed at United States bases in Germany in the early 1960s. The preponderance of the album documents Minor's time in Hanau and Grafenwoehr between 1962 and 1964. Minor includes a few inscriptions to his wife on the front endpapers, such as "rescued for my darling wife Anne Minor" and "1963-64 this is the days of my life I would never forget what a hell of a place this is." Minor's unit worked mainly with missiles and rockets; in one group photograph, Minor appears as a Special Ammunition Support Command (SASCOM) "soldier of the year" award recipient; SASCOM was responsible for maintaining nuclear missiles and other weapons of mass destruction. The album also includes a series of images featuring a 1962 NATO demonstration which featured soldiers on parade, missiles mounted on vehicles, and possibly even a live fire demonstration. In addition to the action shots, the album documents Minor and his fellow soldiers in camp, in tents, and Minor with his "buddies" while socializing, drinking, and generally in downtime. Rounding out the album are a handful of images of Minor while stationed in Denmark, and a series of color photographs of the 18th Artillery Headquarters at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. A unique view of an African-American soldier's service in Europe in the 1960s.

Price: $850.00