Infinite Hope: A Black Artist's Journey from World War II to Peace

Ashley Bryan recounts his World War II service as a Black soldier in the segregated U.S. Army. Assigned to a service unit, he worked as a stevedore in Boston before being sent overseas. During the invasion of Normandy and the movement across France, he and other Black soldiers cleared beach mines and unloaded supplies. At the war’s end, he was responsible for bringing his unit home amid continuing segregation on transport ships. Bryan carried art supplies in his gas mask and drew whenever possible as he endured war and racism.