Update On Thomas Smith Of Pearisburg, Virginia Who Died In WWI

Charlottesville

June 13, 2022

I dug a bit deeper this evening and found a publication that lists all of the Virginians who died in World War I. You can view it at https://archive.org/details/virginianswholos00virg/page/28/mode/2up

Don was correct -- our Thomas Smith died of disease as did many Virginians -- both white and black. How do I know that? Because this booklet separates the dead by white and black -- with the whites listed first, of course.

I never knew. Trying to wrap my head around this new knowledge. At least it gives me a data point that racism was still alive and out in the open in the post WWI timeframe.