Student Handout 2-Background Information

“Selling Patriotism: Daisy Lampkin’s Contribution to World War II”

While World War II was raging in Europe, Americans at home were persuaded to help the war effort by contributing in every facet of daily life. There was one particular group of Americans who were finding it difficult to contribute, not because they could not or did not want to help out; but because they were distracted by a more personal war. Journalist and historian Edna Chappell McKenzie explains, “[African-Americans] were trying to kill Jim Crow and racism. [America] didn’t seem to understand that we had every right to fight for full citizenship at home if we were expected to give our lives overseas.” (The Black Press: Soldiers without Swords, 1999) For example, African-Americans were given trivial jobs at a time when the nation’s workforce needed every able-bodied American to participate in the war effort. Some leading African-American citizens in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania attempted to mobilize their community around the selling of war bonds. One such individual was Daisy E. Lampkin.

Daisy Lampkin

Daisy Elizabeth Lampkin

Courtesy Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division (LC-USZ62-119472)

By 1929 Lampkin was the Vice-President of the Pittsburgh Courier, an African-American newspaper established in 1907 to improve housing, health and education through politics. Lampkin was not new to community action. As a member of The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), she fought for women’s suffrage, led anti-lynching campaigns, and was voted Woman of the Year in 1945. Daisy Lampkin was best known for raising over $2 million in the sale of bonds to help defeat the enemies abroad during World War II. Pennsylvania honored her with a state historical marker in 1983.

War Bonds

So what exactly is a war bond? It is a type of savings bond last sold during World War II. The sales were not only meant to raise money but to help focus civilian patriotism and keep inflation down by removing currency from circulation. People were given cardboard containers with 75 quarter-sized slots. When filled with quarters, it amounted to $18.75. The container was then turned in to the Post Office where a $25 bond was issued that would mature in 10 years. This means if one waited 10 years to cash in, it would be worth the entire $25. If it was cashed early, it was only worth a portion of that amount.

Here is an example of what a war bond for $200 looked like.

Pittsburgh Courier

ThePittsburghCourier attempted to give a voice to the African-American community. Journalist Vernon Jarrett described African-Americans as not “existing in the early papers. We were never born, we didn’t get married, we didn’t die. We didn’t fight in any wars. We never participated in anything of scientific achievement. We were truly invisible, unless we committed a crime. But in the black press, we did get married. They showed us our babies being born. They showed us graduating. They showed our Ph.D.’s.” (The Black Press: Soldiers without Swords, 1999) It was the Pittsburgh Courier that organized a movement spurred by a letter to the editor from James G. Thompson of Wichita, Kansas (31 January 1942) entitled “Should I Sacrifice to Live ‘Half American’?” In his letter Thompson suggested African Americans should keep “defense and victory in the forefront” and should not “loose sight of our fight for true democracy at home …