The Negro Soldier, a 1944 World War II Army documentary supervised by Frank Capra, will screen on June 17 at the National Archives in conjunction with the exhibit Close Up in Black: African American Film Posters. The exhibit, curated from the collections of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Margaret Herrick Library, will be on display at the Smithsonian Institution’s International Gallery through July 28 (www.sites.si.edu). Negro Soldier was produced by the U.S. War Department to inform black troops of their particular stake in the fight against the Axis powers. Dimitri Tiomkin served as musical director. His staff included African American composers and arrangers William Grant Still and Jester Hairston.

The screening will take place at the National Archives’ McGowan Theater, 700 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. For more information see www.archives.gov. For reservations contact the National Archives public events line at (202) 501-5000, or e-mail reservations.new@nara.gov. The program is presented by the Foundation for the National Archives, the Charles Guggenheim Center for the Documentary Film at the National Archives, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see a 35mm print of this historic documentary from the National Archives. A feature article on Dimitri Tiomkin and Jester Hairston’s professional working relationship is coming soon to these pages.