African American Poetry (1870-1928): A Digital Anthology

Note on Carrie Williams Clifford, "Foraker and the Twenty-Fifth" (1911)

This poem focuses on an episode involving an Ohio soldier and politician named J.B. Foraker, who fought on the Union side in the Civil War and later went into government, serving first as Governor of Ohio and then as a Senator. In 1906, Foraker opposed Roosevelt's decision to punish a black Infantry Battalion (the "25th Infantry Battalion" named in Clifford's poem). Later, Roosevelt would work against Foraker, leading to the latter's defeat in a bit for re-election to the Senate.

This page is referenced by: