Today I wish to honor the memory of Mrs. Louise Kimbro, a Gold Star Mother, one of thousands that made the Pilgrimage to Europe between 1930 and 1933. Her son, Private Martin Kimbro, died in France while serving in the US Army during World War I. Mrs. Kimbro was one of approximately 200 African-American women who made the Pilgrimage in segregated and somewhat unequal accommodations alongside the some 6,000-plus (caucasian) Gold Star Mothers and unmarried widows. Where the women of other races landed in this segregated mix, I’m not quite sure.
Many servicemen who died in WWI were buried in Europe due to logistics and expense among other reasons. In the aftermath of WWI, Gold Star Mothers banded together, petitioning the US government for a chance to visit their sons’ graves and provide closure to the events that shaped their families. Travel during the 1920s was expensive, required a lengthy and difficult journey, and was not something that many of these women could arrange on their own.
In March of 1929, a decade after the Great War, and merely months before the Great Depression, President Calvin Coolidge signed the legislation authorizing the funds for a US government sponsored trip for eligible mothers and unmarried widows to visit the graves of their sons and husbands. The Gold Star Pilgrimages took place between 1930 and 1933, during President Herbert Hoover’s administration. Women who accepted the invitation to attend would make the journey across the Atlantic, where they were joined with their sponsors: nurses, officers, translators, and other officials whose job was to take them to the gravesites and other noteworthy locations.
However, as I mentioned, the same racial segregation that had separated the African-American servicemen from caucasian ones during WWI haunted their mothers and widows into their Pilgrimages. Whereas the caucasian women were sent over on luxury liners, the African-American women sailed on commercial steamers. *(At some point after the first couple of sailings, I believe the African-American women may have been accommodated on the same class of ship as their caucasian sisters but I cannot provide the research--hearsay). They also were provided segregated hotel accommodations and train transportation, often required to move to the back of the train as they traveled through the southern parts of the US. According to my research, all races were otherwise provided the same itineraries, meals, and professional support--an odd mixture of segregation within the guise of “inclusivity.”
When word of the planned segregation began to circulate, protests ensued and many African American women declined their invitation to attend due to the inequality. Still, the US government officials left the plans for segregation in place. Ultimately, the fight for equality would press on.
As far as Mrs. Kimbro’s journey, she was chosen to be the “Honor Pilgrim” out of her particular touring group. This honor allowed her to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Paris at the Arc de Triomphe.
I would like to point out that all of the Gold Star mothers and unmarried widows would have also received a special “No-Fee,” one-time-use Passport for the sole purpose of their Pilgrimages. I found it interesting that even non-citizen US residents were afforded a similar document, a “Pilgrimage Travel Document,” that wasn’t a passport, but allowed them to complete the journey nonetheless. I’m grateful that non-citizens were afforded the same opportunities as citizens, something I did not anticipate as I researched this unprecedented event in history.
What a perplexing dichotomy. And I’m wondering how far we’ve come as a nation, and how far we’ve yet to go.
James 2:8-9 (ESV) "If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself,' you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors."
***
Author’s Note: I discovered the Gold Star Pilgrimages when working on a project for WWI burial cards for Zooniverse, a citizen-science collaborative volunteer website. Click here for more on Zooniverse.
About the Image: Poppies Installation in Wales, in memory of veterans. Poppies began growing on the European battlefields of WWI, and were memorialized in the poem In Flander's Field by Lt. Col. John McCrae (Canada). These poppies are a symbol of remembrance for various veteran memorial holidays in Canada, Great Britain, Europe, US, and other locations around the globe.
To Learn More about the WWI Gold Star Mothers Pilgrimages: Please see resource buttons in green below.
Many servicemen who died in WWI were buried in Europe due to logistics and expense among other reasons. In the aftermath of WWI, Gold Star Mothers banded together, petitioning the US government for a chance to visit their sons’ graves and provide closure to the events that shaped their families. Travel during the 1920s was expensive, required a lengthy and difficult journey, and was not something that many of these women could arrange on their own.
In March of 1929, a decade after the Great War, and merely months before the Great Depression, President Calvin Coolidge signed the legislation authorizing the funds for a US government sponsored trip for eligible mothers and unmarried widows to visit the graves of their sons and husbands. The Gold Star Pilgrimages took place between 1930 and 1933, during President Herbert Hoover’s administration. Women who accepted the invitation to attend would make the journey across the Atlantic, where they were joined with their sponsors: nurses, officers, translators, and other officials whose job was to take them to the gravesites and other noteworthy locations.
However, as I mentioned, the same racial segregation that had separated the African-American servicemen from caucasian ones during WWI haunted their mothers and widows into their Pilgrimages. Whereas the caucasian women were sent over on luxury liners, the African-American women sailed on commercial steamers. *(At some point after the first couple of sailings, I believe the African-American women may have been accommodated on the same class of ship as their caucasian sisters but I cannot provide the research--hearsay). They also were provided segregated hotel accommodations and train transportation, often required to move to the back of the train as they traveled through the southern parts of the US. According to my research, all races were otherwise provided the same itineraries, meals, and professional support--an odd mixture of segregation within the guise of “inclusivity.”
When word of the planned segregation began to circulate, protests ensued and many African American women declined their invitation to attend due to the inequality. Still, the US government officials left the plans for segregation in place. Ultimately, the fight for equality would press on.
As far as Mrs. Kimbro’s journey, she was chosen to be the “Honor Pilgrim” out of her particular touring group. This honor allowed her to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Paris at the Arc de Triomphe.
I would like to point out that all of the Gold Star mothers and unmarried widows would have also received a special “No-Fee,” one-time-use Passport for the sole purpose of their Pilgrimages. I found it interesting that even non-citizen US residents were afforded a similar document, a “Pilgrimage Travel Document,” that wasn’t a passport, but allowed them to complete the journey nonetheless. I’m grateful that non-citizens were afforded the same opportunities as citizens, something I did not anticipate as I researched this unprecedented event in history.
What a perplexing dichotomy. And I’m wondering how far we’ve come as a nation, and how far we’ve yet to go.
James 2:8-9 (ESV) "If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself,' you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors."
***
Author’s Note: I discovered the Gold Star Pilgrimages when working on a project for WWI burial cards for Zooniverse, a citizen-science collaborative volunteer website. Click here for more on Zooniverse.
About the Image: Poppies Installation in Wales, in memory of veterans. Poppies began growing on the European battlefields of WWI, and were memorialized in the poem In Flander's Field by Lt. Col. John McCrae (Canada). These poppies are a symbol of remembrance for various veteran memorial holidays in Canada, Great Britain, Europe, US, and other locations around the globe.
To Learn More about the WWI Gold Star Mothers Pilgrimages: Please see resource buttons in green below.