Brigadier General Colin L. Powell

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Description

Born to Jamaican immigrant parents in Harlem, New York, in 1937, Colin Powell earned the Purple Heart and Bronze Star for action in Vietnam. Seen in this 1976 photograph as a brigadier general, Powell later became a general, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President George H.W. Bush, and Secretary of State under President George W. Bush. He was the first African American to hold these posts.

Citation

This primary source comes from the Records of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer.

National Archives Identifier: 594395

Full Citation: Photograph of Brigadier General Colin L. Powell; 1976; Color Portraits of U.S. Army Personnel and Other Personages, ca. 1935–ca. 1982; Records of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer, Record Group 111; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD. [Online Version, https://docsteach.org/document/brigadier-general-colin-powell/, April 21, 2026]

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