by Dan Goldberg
——. “The ‘Forgotten Years’ of the Negro Revolution.” Journal of American History 55, no. 1 (1968): 90–106.
Davis, John W. “The Negro in the United States Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard.” Journal of Negro Education 12, no. 3 (1943): 345–49.
Finkle, Lee. “The Conservative Aims of Militant Rhetoric: Black Protest during World War II.” Journal of American History 60, no. 3 (1973): 692–713.
Floyd, Samuel A. “The Great Lakes Experience: 1942–45.” Black Perspective in Music 3, no. 1 (1975): 17–24.
Flynn, George Q. “Selective Service and American Blacks During World War II.” Journal of Negro History 69, no. 1 (1984): 14–25.
Johnson, Marilynn S. “Gender, Race, and Rumours: Re-examining the 1943 Race Riots.” Gender & History 10, no. 2 (August 1998): 252–77.
Moye, J. Todd. “The Tuskegee Airmen Oral History Project and Oral History in the National Park Service.” Journal of American History 89, no. 2 (2002): 584.
Murray, Paul T. “Blacks and the Draft: A History of Institutional Racism.” Journal of Black Studies 2, no. 1 (1971): 57–76.
“The Navy and the Negro.” Editorial. Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life 20, no. 5 (May 1942): 130.
Perry, Earnest L. “It’s Time to Force a Change: The African American Press’ Campaign for a True Democracy During World War II.” Journalism History 28, no. 2 (2002): 85–95.
Reddick, L. D. “The Negro in the United States Navy during World War II.” Journal of Negro History 32, no. 2 (1947): 201–19.
Selden, Steven. “Transforming Better Babies into Fitter Families: Archival Resources and the History of the American Eugenics Movement, 1908–1930.” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 149, no. 2 (2005): 204.
Sitkoff, Harvard. “Racial Militancy and Interracial Violence in the Second World War.” Journal of American History 58, no. 3 (1971): 661–81.
Washburn, Patrick S. “The Pittsburgh Courier’s Double V Campaign in 1942.” American Journalism 3, no. 2 (1986): 73–86. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism (August 8–11, 1981).
DOCUMENTARY FILMS AND RADIO BROADCASTS
Conan, Neal. “Two of the Golden Thirteen Interviewed.” Morning Edition, National Public Radio. February 24,1993.
Levin, Henry, director. The Negro Sailor. Documentary. US Navy, 1945.
“The Honorable William Sylvester White.” The History Makers (website), September 5, 2000, https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/honorable-william-sylvester-white.
DISSERTATIONS
Burran, James Albert. “Racial Violence in the South During World War II.” University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 1977.
Davis, Michael Shawn. “Many of Them Are Among My Best Men: The United States Navy Looks at Its African American Crewmen, 1755–1955.” Kansas State University, 2011.
Mikkelsen, Vincent. “Coming from Battle to Face a War: The Lynching of Black Soldiers in the World War I Era.” Florida State University, 2007.
Woods, Louis Lee, II. “Messmen No More: African-American Sailors on the USS Mason in World War II.” Howard University, 2006.
UNPUBLISHED DOCUMENTS
Chief of Naval Personnel. “U.S. Naval Training Center, Great Lakes, Illinois.” Bound original typescript, December 28, 1945. Archival Collection, National Museum of the American Sailor, Naval Station Great Lakes, Great Lakes, IL.
Stillwell, Paul. “The Navy Years.” Chapter 8 of unpublished work, “Two Black Lives.”
US Navy, Bureau of Naval Personnel. “The Negro in the Navy: United States Naval Administrative History of World War II #84.” Washington: US Navy, Bureau of Naval Personnel, 1947. Unpublished multivolume administrative history of World War II. Available online at https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/n/negro-navy-1947-adminhist84.html.
INDEX
Please note that page numbers are not accurate for the e-book edition.
Ageton, A. A., 169
Alexandria, Virginia, race riots, 122
Alves, Augustus: failure to be commissioned, 182; later work at Camp Robert Smalls, 182; recruitment for officer training, 6; seamanship skills, 166
An American Dilemma (Myrdal), 209
American Eugenics Society, 10
Anderson, Marian, 97, 115–16
Anderson, W. J., 79
Appellate Court, Illinois, 225
Arbor, Alexander, 22
Arbor, Jesse: adjustment problems at boot camp, 103–4; assignment to the Manana Naval Barracks, 188; assignment to the Mason, 1; assignment to quartermaster corps, 2; as a college dropout, 21; commissioning of, 179–80; commitment to training, 160; death, 226; departure from the Navy, 214; early schooling, 22; enlistment with the Navy, 103; friendship with Collins, 103–4; at the naming ceremony for the Great Lakes intake center, 229; performance reports, 188; personality, 164; praise following commissioning, 184; recruitment for officer training, 3–4; response to disrespect, 174; service in Guam, 200–202; skills, 164; tailor shop, 24, 224; teaching of semaphore, Morse code, 171; views about Armstrong, 22; work as a Pullman porter, 23–24
Arbor, Tecora, 22
Armstrong, Daniel W.: advice to newly commissioned officers, 179–81; approval of training plan, 156–57; badminton games with Barnes, 131–32; changing views on integration, 214; command of Camp Robert Smalls, 5–6, 98; differing views on, 90, 98–100, 180–81, 190; disciplinary leniency, impacts, 100, 108; group singing of spirituals, 99–100; Pacific Theater tour, 198; praise for success in training black recruits, 101–2; promotion of black culture, 99–100, 191; racism shown by, 99–100, 179–81; and segregation at Great Lakes, 98, 213; selection of officer training candidates, 6–7; slacker squad, 101; use of black officers for public relations, 186–87
Armstrong, Samuel Chapman, 98, 109
Army, US: appeal to educated black men, 78; black enlistees, 28–29, 53; camps in the South, and violence, 122, 136–37; racism, segregation in, 9–10, 15, 27, 46–47, 74
Army War College, 9
Arnold, Henry “Hap,” 45
Baker, Dean, 80
Baldwin, James, 123
Baltimore Afro-American: on the Navy’s Jim Crow policy, 148; publisher’s discussions with the War Department, 46; on racism experienced by black soldiers, 123; on student strike at Hampton, 118–19
Bandy, Robert, 144
Bard, Ralph, 48, 77, 185
Barnes, George, 68
Barnes, James and Margaret, 58–60
Barnes, James, Jr. (Sunny Jim), 60–61
Barnes, Olga Lash, 57–58, 132, 157, 227–28
Barnes, Phil: assignment to the USS Migrant, 188; background, personality, 164–65; death, 222; recruitment for officer training, 6, 173; reunion with Syl White in Saipan, 211
Barnes, Sam: athletic skills, 59–61, 133, 189; badminton with Armstrong, 131–32; brother’s death, 61; career, doctorate, and honors, 224; commitment to success, 9, 161–62; death, 226; decision to join the Navy, 132–33; downplaying of role during the war, 228; enjoyment of work as an officer, 190; on factors limiting Nelson’s career, 217; family, childhood, and education, 56, 58–60; on Goodwin’s ability to work with whites, 163; life and work in Cincinnati, 61–62; at Livingstone College, 56; marriage to Olga, second jobs, 157; as a Navy recruiter, 226; personality, 5–6, 58, 165; reaction to Knox’s death, 186; recruitment for officer training, 5–6; responses to racism, 58, 62; reunion with Syl White in Saipan, 211; role as company clerk, seaman first-class, 133; service in Okinawa, 202; views on Armstrong, 190; work in the Great Lakes selection office, 133–34
Baugh, Dalton Louis: at Arkansas AM&N following commissioning, 184; background and education, 129; death, 226, 228; downplaying of role during the war, 228–29; as the first black chief engineer, 188; MIT degree, engineering career, 222–23; as a Navy recruiter, 226; personality, 167–68; pride in commission and in doctorate, 229; recruitment for officer training, 6, 158; response to racism, 191; at
reunion of the Golden Thirteen, 220–21; teaching skills, 129; training at Hampton, 129
Baugh, Lorraine: at the naming ceremony for the Great Lakes intake center, 229–30; stationery design for the Golden Thirteen, 221; unaware about husband’s time in the Navy, 227, 229
beans, breakfast, 89, 95–96
Beaumont, Texas, race riot, 137–39
Belichick, Steve, 202–3
below-deck ratings, training for, 96
Benton, C. C., 20
Bethlehem Center, Nashville, Nelson’s work at, 79
Bethune-Cookman College, Daytona Beach, Hair’s studies at, 91
Biddle, Francis, 70–71, 143–44
Bigby, Roscoe Howard, 110
Black, John Alexander, 16
“black cabinet,” 45
black community: antiwar sentiment, 49–51, 145–46, 152; and the black vote, 13–14, 24, 27, 39, 197; and the Double V campaign, 63, 67–68, 111–12; focus on integrating the military, 24, 47; and impact of segregation on morale, 46–52, 68, 111, 123; support for World War II, 51. See also black press; segregation
Blackford, William “Big Bill,” 209
black naval officers (the “Golden Thirteen”): assignments following commissioning, 183–84; awards and recognition, 226; battles for respect, 180, 183, 190–95, 200–205, 225, 229–30; celebrity/ recognition of, 192, 202–30; “Deck Officers Limited—Only” designation, 191; forgetting of the achievements of, 227; and the Golden Thirteen name, 221; leaves following commissioning, 184; and officers’ clubs, 201–3; as officers of the day, 191; performance reports, 188; as recruiters, 226; responsibility to be perfect, 160, 195, 218; restriction from sea duty, 18; reunions, 13, 220–21, 225–26; and segregated facilities, 180; sense of mission, unity, 154; uniforms, 183–84; use of, for Navy PR, 186–87
black officer candidates: arrival at Great Lakes Naval Training Station, 3–5, 88–89, 103; boot camp, 94–96, 153; candidate selection, 1–7, 174; clothing and other shortages, 94; commissioning, 179–83; FBI background checks, 158, 181; first convening of, 160; grades on exams, 179; lecture series on the war in Europe, 169; life at Camp Morrow, 89–90; low morale among, 154, 166, 177; Navy resistance to training, 8–9, 29–30; prejudice experienced by, 97, 181, 191; reassignment following boot camp, 94–96, 153–54; recreational activities, 97, 133, 155; segregation of, 7, 74, 180; sense of mission, unity, 8–9, 89, 160–62, 171; successes, white praise for, 101–2; training plan, 156–57; training schedule and activities, 94–96, 168–70, 174–75. See also Camp Robert Smalls, Great Lakes Naval Training Station; specific individuals
black press: assignment of Syl White to work with, 187; Double V campaign, 69–70; influence of, 14, 38; positive stories about blacks in the military, 75–76, 125, 153, 210; pressure on FDR to promote racial equality, 143; reporting on impacts of racism on black recruits, 71, 135
black sailors: construction battalions, 73–74, 125; cynicism about the US Navy, 8–9; disrating as punishment for, 116; expanded opportunities, 43, 73–76, 80; initial shipboard assignments, 147; limited opportunities, poor treatment, 2, 28–29, 38, 40, 73, 75, 89–90, 142–43, 147; morale issues, 125, 136, 154, 199, 210–11; as officers, rationales for prohibiting, 75, 126–27; recruitment/drafting of, 10, 38–40, 78–79, 124; service as messmen, 11–12, 25–26, 29, 38, 52, 55, 74, 124; shore patrol, limits to, 106; stereotypes about, 12, 30, 48, 78–79, 98, 101; violence against, 134. See also Navy, US; race riots; segregation
Blackville, South Carolina, Hair’s childhood in, 15–16
The Bluejacket’s Manual, 107, 169
Bond, K. E., 213
Booz, Edwin G., 32
Boy Scouts, Nelson’s work with, 79
Branham, J. E., 71
Brannen, P. B., 125–26
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, 26, 28
Brown, Lloyd, 124
Brown, Robert, 19
Browning, Charles, 70–71, 151
Brown v. Board of Education, 223, 225
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century A.D. (Dille Sr.), 175
Bullard, Robert L., 10
Bulwark, USS, Arbor’s service aboard, 2
Bureau of Naval Personnel: expanded opportunities for black sailors, 146–47, 197; increase in black recruits, 126; limited advancement opportunities for blacks, 127; Nelson’s tenure at, 215; promotion of Hair, 209; response to racist incidents, 194. See also Navy, US
Campbell, Bruce, 222
Campbell, William J., 151
Camp Morrow. See Camp Robert Smalls, Great Lakes Naval Training Station
Camp Robert Smalls, Great Lakes Naval Training Station: adjustment problems at, 103; athletic program, 135, 189; Barracks 202, 7, 160, 164, 186; Dille’s request for assignment to, 176; discipline at, 100–101; FDR’s visit to, 105; life at, 89–90; numbers at the end of the war, 213; physical layout, 89; remedial reading/literacy instruction, 9, 107, 189, 213; renaming, 98; Richmond’s role at, 105, 168; segregation at, 5, 78, 82; “slacker squad,” 101; training group, segregation of, 7. See also Armstrong, Daniel W.; black officer candidates; Great Lakes Naval Training Station
Camp Stewart, Georgia, experiences of racism at, 145
Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi, 136–37
Capper, Arthur, 30
Capra, Frank, 206
Cardoza, Emmita (Emmita Casanova), 55–56
Carmen, Doreston Luke, Jr., 78
Cassin, USS, Claude’s rescue from, 11
Chicago, Illinois: Arbor in, 21–22, 24; racist laws, 22–23; Reagan in, 42–43
Chicago Daily Tribune, praise for black naval trainees, 81, 102
Chicago Defender: celebration of the newly commissioned officers, 182; criticisms of, as inflammatory, 69–70; influence, 14; positive articles about blacks in the Navy, 216; praise for Reagan’s athleticism, 44; reporting on black reluctance to support war effort, 51; reporting on interracial violence, 136–37
Chunn, Barker D., 139
Citizens’ Military Training Camp, 114
Civil Service Commission, 32
Claude, Abram, 11–12
Clayton, Joseph, 151
Collins, Arthur “Duck,” 103–4, 184
Collins, James, 144
Collins, M., 187
Committee on Participation of Negroes in the National Defense Program, 25, 111
Connor, Eugene “Bull,” 69 construction battalions, 73–74, 125, 143
Cook County Juvenile Court System, Syl White’s leadership at, 225
Cooper, Edward, 35–36
Cooper, George Clinton: adjustment problems, 162; advocacy on behalf of gay and female sailors, 226; on commitment to successful officer training, 160; death, 226; enlistment in the Navy, 130; experiences of racism, 34–35, 37–38, 120, 193–94, 195; family, childhood, and education, 33–37; as first black human resources director for Dayton, Ohio, 224; medical discharge, 214; memorization of Navy rules, 170; as a Navy recruiter, 226; performance reports, 188; recruitment for officer training, 6, 158; at reunions of the Golden Thirteen, 220–21; as student at Hampton Institute, 118–20; teaching skills and jobs, 34, 59, 117, 129, 165, 171; views on Armstrong, 180–81; wearing of officer’s uniform, 183–84; wife, Peg, 172, 184; work at Hampton following commissioning, 193; work with sheet-metal, 7, 33–34
Cooper, Laura Jane Johnson, 35–37
Cooper, Margarett “Peg” Gillespie: anger about racism, 172; hatred for segregated life in Virginia, 120; marriage, pregnancy, 117; support for husband during his training, 171–72
Cotton Plant, Arkansas, Arbor’s childhood in, 21–22
Crabtree, John Dawson, 176 the Crisis (NAACP), 25–26, 47
Crispus Attucks High School Indianapolis, 86–87, 225
Daniels, Jonathan, 68
Daniels, Josephus, 68
Darden, Thomas F., 146
Davis, Benjamin O., Sr., 39–40, 113
Davis, John W., 128
Davis, Peggy Cooper, 119–20
Davis, USS, messmen aboard, 40
Dayton, Ohio, Cooper�
�s employment with city of, 224
Democratic Party, and the black vote, 14, 27, 69
Detroit, Michigan, race riots, 139–40
Dewey, Thomas, 67, 148, 197–98
Dickerson, Earl, 151
Dille, John Flint, Jr.: admiration for the Golden Thirteen, 228; enlistment in the Navy, 175; honoring of by the Golden Thirteen, 221; multiracial upbringing, 176; as trainer at Great Lakes, 175–77
Dille, John Flint, Sr., 175
Dille, Phoebe Minerva Crabtree, 176
Dillon, Charles E., 146
Dixon, Frank, 69
Dodson, Owen, 99
Double V campaign, 63, 67–68, 111–12
Downes, Edwin Hall: background, work ethic, 116; Cooper’s work for, 7; efforts to boost morale, 115; goals, 117; intolerance for racism, 120–21, 193–94; justification for underuse of black trainees, 135; personality, 116; and Reagan’s assignment to officer training, 4, 158; relationship with Sublett and Reagan, 116; welcoming of boots to Hampton Institute, 109–10. See also Hampton Institute, Virginia
Downes, John, 93, 105
Du Bois, W. E. B., 10, 43
Dutton, Benjamin, 168
Educational Planning Officer, Great Lakes, praise for trainees, 80–81
efficiency, naval: Claude’s focus on, 11; Emmet’s focus on, 199; and integration, racial equality, 146, 149–50, 212; Knox’s focus on, 30, 32–33, 54, 64–65, 72, 185; and segregation, racist policies, 8, 46, 49–50, 63–64, 74, 80, 127; and sexual orientation, 226
Eightieth Construction battalion, experience of racism, 143
“Eleanor Clubs,” 142
Ely, Hanson Edward, 9–10, 15, 100
Emmet, Robert R. M., 11, 156, 199
engineer rating, opening to black sailors, 73
Eniwetok naval base, 211
Ethridge, Mark, 48–49, 52
eugenics research, 10
Fair Employment Practices Committee
(FEPC), 48, 69
Farber, Leonard, 54
Field, Marshall, III, 213
Filipino immigrants, as servants and messmen, 10
Firefly, USS, Reagan’s work aboard, 158
Fisk University, Nelson as professor at, 79 football, Navy team, 155–56
Forrestal, James, 185, 195–98, 210–11, 213
Fort Dix race riot, 73
