American, 1911–unknown
Richard Hicks Bowman served in the US Air Force during World War II and was stationed in what is today Western New Guinea and the South Philippines. Compiled in the 1950s from artifacts that span over a decade, his album chronicles Bowman’s war service, his discharge in 1946, and his postwar life in New Orleans. Bowman’s personal archive combines photographs with receipts, insurance cards, and other printed ephemera, often collaged together with postage stamps and printed captions. Through these captions and handwritten notes, Bowman weaves a narrative about war buddies, many of whom were killed, and several love interests. Much of the commentary concerns his experiences as an African American serviceman, celebrating, for example, the visit of boxer Joe Louis and referring to dark-skinned Pacific Islanders as "my people" and "my brothers." Bowman’s scrapbooking style is lively and inventive, often using words or phrases clipped from magazines and newspapers to comment on pictures of himself or others.
