Bronx World War II veteran
publishes memoir, war art
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
A legendary Bronx artist,
storyteller and writer is revealing
his decades old secret
that almost no one knew — his
service as a World War II soldier
in the fi ght against the
Nazis.
Born on July 13, 1923 in Harlem
and raised in the Bronx,
Ashley Bryan is a 96-year-old
veteran and published author
of a series of children’s books.
In his new illustrated
memoir, ‘Infi nite Hope - A
Black Artist’s Journey from
World War II to Peace’, published
on Tuesday, October 15,
Bryan shares his story of being
drafted out of art school
at the age of 19 and into World
War II.
The memoir, featuring
never-before-seen artwork,
photographs, and handwritten
letters to his neighbor Eva,
is about segregated army service
during World War II and
how love and the pursuit of art
sustained Bryan throughout
his time spent overseas.
“It gave me a sense of what
can be creative and constructive
when you’re living in the
midst of destruction and suffering,”
said Bryan, who was
assigned to serve as a member
in the 502nd Port Battalion, a
company of 20 Black soldiers.
Carrying charcoal pencils
in his gas mask, using any paper
he could fi nd to draw on
from napkins to toilet paper,
Bryan created hundreds upon
hundreds of sketches, drawings
and paintings while deployed.
During his days-off,
he would sketch the soldiers at
rest, he said.
For years, Bryan faced the
injustices of war, and equally
damaging, the injustices specifi
c to Black soldiers in a segregated
army.
“We Blacks had risked our
lives — thousands had lost
their lives — to stop those
people they had segregated
out, deemed as lesser, as unworthy,”
Bryan said in his
memoir. “And yet in many respects,
we were being treated
in the same way.”
However, Bryan sought
the opportunity to continue
studying art in Europe while
deployed.
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, N 42 OVEMBER 8-14, 2019 BTR
After the war, Bryan completed
his Cooper Union degree,
studied philosophy and
literature at Columbia University
on the GI Bill, and then
went to Europe on a Fulbright
scholarship, seeking to understand
why humans choose
war.
He then returned to the
U.S., teaching art in the Bronx
and at several schools and universities,
retiring in the 1980s
to Maine’s Cranberry Isles as
professor emeritus of Dartmouth
College.
Bryan has published more
than 50 books to date — many
of which include African
American subjects. He has received
numerous prestigious
awards for his work and humanitarian
contributions.
In 2014, The Ashley Bryan
Center was established to preserve,
celebrate and share
Bryan’s work, while providing
scholarships, exhibitions, and
opportunities in the arts.
Renowned artist and writer, Ashley Bryan, 96, shares his journey from
serving in World War II to fi nding peace in his new illustrated memoir,
Infi nite Hope. Photo courtesy of Ashley Bryan
“I’m always challenged
each day by the desire to do
good and be creative,” Bryan
said. “When you wake up in
the morning and be thankful
for the oxygen we breathe and
for the light of the day, and to
say ‘this is a new adventure’
embracing it as a child would,”
Bryan said.