- On View
- Military History Gallery
- Museum Maps
- Objects in this Location
- Manufactured by
- Weintraub Brothers Company, Inc., founded 1917
- Worn by
- General Powell, Colin L., American, 1937 - 2021
- Subject of
- United States Army, American, founded 1775
- Date
- 1989-1993
- Medium
- polyester with metal and plastic fasteners
- Dimensions
- H x W x D (on form): 43 × 14 × 11 in. (109.2 × 35.6 × 27.9 cm)
- Caption
- Colin Luther Powell was born in Harlem, New York, on April 5, 1937. He graduated from Community College of New York in 1958 and earned his commission through the ROTC as a second lieutenant in the Regular Army. After a distinguished and highly decorated military career, Powell was promoted to four-star general in 1989. That same year he became the first African American Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), serving under President George H.W. Bush and President Bill Clinton. General Powell retired from the Army in 1993 after 35 years of service. In 2001 he became the first African American Secretary of State, serving under President George W. Bush before resigning in 2004. General Powell died on October 18, 2021, at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. After a funeral service at Washington National Cathedral in D.C., General Powell was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
- Description
- A pair of US Army green service uniform pants worn by Colin L. Powell as General and as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The pants are made from a dark olive green polyester fabric and have straight cut legs that are pressed with a crease down the center front and back. The pants close at the center front waist with a green painted metal zipper, one (1) metal flat hook-and-eye, and one (1) round green plastic button through a self-fabric tab. There are seven (7) self-fabric belt loops around the waistband. The pants have two (2) inset pockets, one at each front waist side seam. Two (2) stripes of black woven tape are sewn down the outer side of each leg. There are two (2) welted pockets, one on each back leg below the waist. The proper left back pocket has a self-fabric loop above it that fastens around one (1) round green plastic button. The pants are only lined at the waistband, with the lining bisected by a white woven tape with a repeating design in black embroidery of rifles and the text "PATRIOT". There is a manufacturer's tag on the proper left back pocket lining with style, fiber content, and care information.
- Place used
- Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America
- Classification
- Clothing-Historical
- Topic
- Clothing and dress
- Local and regional
- Military
- Persian Gulf War, 1991
- Credit Line
- Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret)
- Object number
- 2016.14.2
- Restrictions & Rights
- No Known Copyright Restrictions
- Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.