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fact, Roberts had previously been arrested on a similar charge; he was acquitted, but his first wife divorced him. Roberts had also been arrested in the 1920s for wearing his Army uniform after the post-war demobilization, something which had also happened to
Johnson. As a result of this record, some authors and historians believe it likely that the arrests and criminal charges were motivated by racism rather than actual misconduct.
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in Newark. According to news accounts, Roberts and his wife Iola jointly decided to commit suicide, and hanged themselves in the basement of their home. Newspaper accounts also indicated that they may have been motivated by the fact that he had been accused of molesting a child the day before. In
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on April 28, 1901, the son of Emma
Roberts and the Reverend Norman Roberts, who had moved to New Jersey from North Carolina in 1890. He sometimes spelled his first name as "Neadom", which is how it appears on his grave marker. Roberts was raised on Trenton's Wilson Street, graduated from Lincoln
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Roberts was disabled by his wounds, and unable to maintain steady employment. He occasionally gave paid lectures about his wartime experiences, and in the early 1940s gave radio addresses and other speeches as part of the Army's effort to recruit
African-Americans for
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Elementary School and attended high school, but dropped out before graduating so he could begin working, first as a hotel bellhop, and later as a clerk in a drugstore. At the start of US involvement in
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A More
Unbending Battle: The Harlem Hellfighters' Struggle for Freedom in WW I and Equality at Home
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in 1932; for
Johnson, this was a posthumous award. In 2002, Johnson was posthumously awarded the
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fought off a 24-man German patrol, though both were severely wounded. Both were awarded the
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482:. Washington, DC: National Museum of African American History & Culture. p. 19.
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449:"It took 97 years to get these soldiers the Medal of Honor. Here's how it happened"
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in 1917, the sixteen-year-old
Roberts lied about his age so he could enlist in the
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645:. Vol. I. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. p. 293.
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We Return
Fighting: World War I and the Shaping of Modern Black Identity
642:
The Marcus Garvey and
Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers
218:(April 28, 1901 – April 18, 1949) was an American soldier in the
401:"Remembering Henry Johnson, the Soldier Called "Black Death""
347:"Celebrating Trenton's Historical Figures: Needham Roberts"
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While on guard duty on May 14, 1918, Roberts and private
516:. Memphis, TN. October 26, 1919. p. 26 – via
379:"Hellfighter: The Story of Trenton's Troubled War Hero"
589:"New Facts Brought to Light In Roberts Double Suicide"
540:. Omaha, NE. December 19, 1941. p. 1 – via
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Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France)
279:to recognize their heroism. They also received the
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754:Burials at Fairmount Cemetery (Newark, New Jersey)
532:"Negroes Contributions In 5 Wars To Be Dramatized"
37:Roberts as depicted in the May 1919 edition of
287:; in 2015 Johnson's award was upgraded to the
749:African-American United States Army personnel
508:"Central Civic League Notes: Needham Roberts"
8:
618:. New York, NY: Civitas Books. p. 341.
587:McGhee, J.; Webber, H. B. (April 30, 1949).
385:. Lawrence, NJ: Community News Service, LLC.
724:Military personnel from Trenton, New Jersey
409:. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution.
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597:. New York, NY. p. 11 – via
476:Conwill, Kinshasha Holman, ed. (2019).
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316:on April 18, 1949, and was buried at
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557:"Biography, Private Needham Roberts"
399:King, Gilbert (October 25, 2011).
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739:Suicides by hanging in New Jersey
729:New York National Guard personnel
719:369th Infantry Regiment personnel
704:African Americans in World War I
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377:Hyatt, Diccon (June 18, 2021).
426:. ABC-CLIO. pp. 135–136.
1:
734:Child soldiers in World War I
563:. Military Hall of Honor, LLC
447:Lamothe, Dan (June 1, 2015).
345:Nadel, Logan (May 18, 2020).
164:New York Army National Guard
709:United States Army soldiers
423:African American War Heroes
285:Distinguished Service Cross
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555:Lewis, Charles A. (2021).
255:. He was assigned to the
612:Nelson, Peter N. (2009).
420:Martin, James B. (2014).
30:
639:Hill, Robert A. (1983).
108:United States of America
257:369th Infantry Regiment
169:369th Infantry Regiment
561:Military Hall of Honor
513:The Commercial Appeal
273:William Henry Johnson
230:for his valor during
222:and recipient of the
135:Years of service
16:American Army soldier
242:Roberts was born in
454:The Washington Post
244:Trenton, New Jersey
220:Harlem Hellfighters
54:Trenton, New Jersey
383:Community News.org
318:Fairmount Cemetery
314:Newark, New Jersey
253:United States Army
129:United States Army
87:Newark, New Jersey
83:Fairmount Cemetery
71:Newark, New Jersey
652:978-0-520-04456-2
625:978-0-465-00317-4
489:978-1-5883-4679-7
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567:December 14,
565:. Retrieved
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494:Google Books
492:– via
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355:. Retrieved
351:TrentonDaily
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302:World War II
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281:Purple Heart
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224:Purple Heart
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198:Purple Heart
66:(1949-04-18)
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694:1949 deaths
689:1901 births
461:October 17,
406:Smithsonian
267:World War I
249:World War I
232:World War I
181:World War I
683:Categories
537:Omaha Star
325:References
238:Early life
95:Allegiance
40:The Crisis
138:1917–1919
295:Post-war
226:and the
115:Service/
147:Private
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187:Awards
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117:branch
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78:Buried
647:ISBN
620:ISBN
569:2022
484:ISBN
463:2019
428:ISBN
359:2022
177:Wars
153:Unit
143:Rank
89:, US
73:, US
61:Died
56:, US
48:Born
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
