SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY (04/16/2014)-- They're known popularly as the Harlem Hellfighters, but the African-American members of the New York National Guard's 369th Infantry identified themselves instead as the Harlem Rattlers, and made the rattlesnake their unit emblem.
Historian Jeffrey Sammons, co-author of a new book on the 369th "Harlem's Rattlers and the Great War: The Undaunted 369th Regiment and the African American Quest for Equality" outlines the history of the unit and it's place in the larger struggle for black equality during a free talk at the New York State Military Museum on Saturday April 26.
Sammons is a professor in the Department of History at New York University and the author of Beyond the Ring: The Role of Boxing in American Society.
In their book the two men explore the role of the unit--originally known as the 15th Infantry Regiment of the New York National Guard-in African-American history.
Combining the "fighting focus" of military history with the insights of social commentary, Harlem's Rattlers and the Great War reveals the centrality of military service and war to the quest for equality as it details the origins, evolution, combat exploits, and postwar struggles of the 369th.
