Gerard Shirar

The Court-martial of Charlie Newell Gerard Shirar

North Carolina, 1917. Charlie Newell lives aquiet life farming as a sharecropper under thehot Southern sun and living in the Negrosettlement of Holly Ridge. Even though theworld is engaged in the Great War, Charlie'sreligion forbids him from fighting. He andother Negroes from the community haveregistered as conscientious objectors, but theU. S. Army ignores their stance and forcesthem into the service. Once Charlie begins his duties as a soldier,the trouble starts. Racial slurs, insults, andeven physical abuse hound him, and he longsto return to his farm. His religious beliefsclash with the army when he refuses to workon Saturday-his Sabbath-and Charlie isarrested, court-martialed, and sentenced toten years of hard labor. For Charlie, a simple man with simpledreams, his time in prison is the biggestobstacle in his life. Facing prejudice fromfellow inmates, guards, and prisonadministrators is one thing. But it is the tollon his mind, body, and spirit that will trulytest the strength of his convictions. The Court-Martial of Charlie Newell shedslight on a little-known piece of Americanhistory. Charlie Newell's plight artfullyportrays the racial prejudice of Americaduring World War I and reveals one man'sfortitude in the face of adversity.