by Dan Goldberg
Fort Pierce, Florida, Hair family in, 15–17, 92
Foster, Lloyd E., 69
France, Edward, 82
Fundamentals of Naval Science course, 169
Gamble, Alice, 136
general-service rating: opening to black sailors, 1–2, 54, 63, 73, 196; training programs for, 134; and work assignments, 135
Gibson, Truman K., 45–46, 50, 123
Gilliard, Joe, 193
Golden Thirteen. See black naval officers (the “Golden Thirteen”); black officer candidates
The Golden Thirteen (Stillwell), 226
Goodwin, Reginald Ernest: ability to work with whites, 163; background and education, 56; car, 189; in Cincinnati, 56; death, 222; fostering of racial equality, 199; as head of the selection office, 189; marriage, 55–56; mentorship of Barnes, 134; performance report, 189; personality, 163–64, 199; recruitment for officer training, 6; reunion with Syl White in Saipan, 211; role during Lena Horne concert, 193; views on Armstrong, 190; work in the Great Lakes selection office, 133–34
Granger, Lester, 150, 210–12
Gravely, Samuel L.: career, 217; commissioning through the V-12 program, 128; at the naming ceremony for the Great Lakes intake center, 228; as the Navy’s first black admiral, 128, 217; work as a Navy recruiter, 217
Great Lakes Naval Training Station: achievements of black trainees, 80–81; advanced training at, 96; choice of, for training black sailors, 78; commandants, 156; “commando course,” 95; Dille as trainer at, 175–76; disciplinary approaches, drills, 96; expansion following Pearl Harbor, 93–94; food at, 95–96; integration of the officers’ club, 198–99; make-work assignments, 203–4; racism/ segregation at, 5, 78, 82, 97–98, 213; recreational activities, 97; renaming of intake center at, 228–29; sailors at the end of the war, 213; selection office, 133–34; Ship’s Company Band, 97; training activities, 94–95, 188; training vessels, 104. See also black officer candidates; Camp Robert Smalls, Great Lakes Training Center
Guam, racism on, 200–202
Gumz, Mrs. Donald G., 212
Hair, Alfred, 16
Hair, James Edward: challenge to Joe Louis, 207–8; childhood and upbringing, 15–18, 92; death, 226; decision to enlist in the Navy, 92; on disciplinary drills, 96; discussion with Meyer about racism, 208–9; experience of lynching/Jim Crow segregation, 17–19; as first lieutenant aboard the USS Mason, 209; influence of brother-in-law Estes Wright, 17; life after leaving the Navy, 218–20; personality, 166; recruitment for officer training, 5; reluctance to talk about time in the Navy, 227; response to boot camp, 95–96, 171; and reunions of the Golden Thirteen, 217; seafaring experience, 166; as skipper of YTB-215, 206–7; spelling of name, 91; training as quartermaster, 3
Hair, James Edward, Jr., 227
Hair, Rosa Nix, 16
Hall, Felix, 45
Hampton, Virginia, racism in, 120–21
Hampton Institute, Virginia: arrival routine for new recruits, 109–10; candidates for officer training from, 6–7; as Class A naval training school, 109–10, 129; commissioning of white faculty members, 128; Cooper’s undergraduate education at, 117–18; facilities at, 110; founding of, 98; high morale and expectations at, 112–13; literacy instruction, 129; make-work assignments, 204; Marian Anderson at, 115–16; physical conditions, daily routines, 111; Reagan’s training at, 4; student strike, 118–19; studies and recreational activities, 111–12; training for below-deck ratings, 96; women students, 110, 112
Harlem, New York: meeting of black leaders regarding war effort, 49–51; race riot, 144–45
Hastie, William H.: accomplishments, 50; as aide to secretary of war, 39; Gibson’s work for, 45; at Harlem about the war effort, 49–51; on impact of mistreatment of black soldiers, 136; rejection of Syl White as naval aide, 213
Hathcock, Wayman Elmer, 100, 105
Hayes, Edward, 48–49
Headley, F. G., 169
Hill, T. Arnold, 27
Hillenkoetter, Roscoe H., 206
Hinkle, Paul “Tony,” 155
historically black colleges, and the V-1 program, 80
Hitlerism, equation with Jim Crow segregation, 47, 49, 51, 140
Holcomb, Thomas, 53
Holly Tree Inn, Hampton, Virginia, 118
Hope, Edward swain, 188
Horne, Lena, 192–93
Hotel Theresa, Harlem, 208
Householder, Eugene R., 46
Howe, Arthur, Jr., 118–19
Howe, Margaret Marshall Armstrong, 118
Indianapolis, Indiana, Martin family in, 83–85. See also Ku Klux Klan
Indianapolis Asylum for Friendless Colored Children, 85
integration: of auxiliary ships and the WAVES, 197–98; changing views about, 144; FDR’s gradualist approach, 27–28, 64, 125–26, 143; fear of impacts on efficiency, 54; fear of impacts on whites, 8–9, 28–30, 33, 74, 127; full, 214; of officers’ clubs, 198–99; partial, 126, 147–48, 211; recognition of efficiency of, 198, 211; E. Roosevelt’s support for, 147; Sargent’s commitment to, 146
“Integration of the Negro into the U.S. Navy” (Nelson), 216
intermarriage, white fears about, 63
interracial violence. See race riots; segregation; white supremacy
Ivy, James, 118–19
Jackson, Edward L., 84
Jacobs, Randall: choice of Great Lakes Naval Training station for training blacks, 78; efforts to integrate black sailors, 196–97; on limiting black recruits, 124–25; plan to train black officers, 156
Jim Crow policies. See segregation; white supremacy
Johnson, Campbell C., 40
Johnson, Mordecai, 127–28
Jones, J. L., 183
Journal of Negro Education, complaints about failure to commission black educators, 128
Kauffold, Vance, 198
Keefe, Martin, 77
Kidd, Richard, 128
Kidd, USS, Golden Thirteen reunion aboard, 218, 220–21
King, Ernest, 74, 147–48, 157, 196–97
Klinkner, Philip A., 144
Knox, Annie Reid, 186
Knox, Frank: accomplishments, 185–86; admiration for FDR, 65; as an anti-Roosevelt Republican, 31, 33; appreciation of the Nazi threat, 31–32; background, lack of naval experience, 30–31; construction battalions, 125; criticism and complaints about, 38–39, 71–77; daily routine, 33; death and burial, 185; efforts to limit black recruitment, 9, 52–53, 124–25; efforts to limit opportunities for black sailors, 41, 73–75, 80, 125; friendship with Stevenson, 148–49; opposition to integration, 9, 25–26, 28–30, 54; personality, 30–31; and plan to train black officers, 128, 157; prioritizing efficiency over racial progress, 32–33, 64–66; response to attack on Pearl Harbor, 47–48; and the V-12 program, 127
Korean War, 216–17
Ku Klux Klan, 10, 84, 86
Lane, Russell Adrian, 87, 89, 155, 204
Lash, Mayzonetta “Mary” Grundy, 58
Lash, Wiley Hezekiah, 57–58
Lear, Charles: appointment as warrant officer, 181; assignment to the Manana Naval Barracks, Hawaii, 188; background, 167; love for the Navy, 167; recruitment for officer training, 6; service in Guam, 200–202; suicide, 221–22
Lehman, John, 228
Life magazine, “First Negro Ensigns” article, 183, 229
Lincoln, Abraham, 13, 143
Lincoln Park Academy, Fort Pierce, 17
literacy training, 107, 129, 189, 213
Livingstone College, Salisbury, North Carolina, Barnes’s teaching at, 56
Logan, Rayford, 25, 88
Logistics Support Company 515, 211
Lopez-Sublett, Susan, 227
Los Angeles Human Relations Bureau, Nelson as head of, 223–24
Louis, Joe: in Chicago, 107; donation to Navy Relief Fund, 49–50; Hair’s challenge to, 207–8; match against Baer, 49
Lovette, Leland P., 169, 187
Lugar, Dick, 228 lynching: Cooper’s experience of, 37–38; in Fort Pierce, Florida, 17; of Felix Hall, 45; reports of, i
n the black press, 123
Mackenzie, James C., 49
MacLean, Malcolm shaw, 110–12
Marcantonio, Vito, 140–41
marching songs, 99, 105
Marine Corps, US, as all-white, 29, 53
Marshall, George, 46, 146
Martin, Ala Mae Patterson, 88, 192
Martin, Carrie Lee, 83
Martin, Charlie, 83
Martin, Graham Edward: appeal of the Navy to, 82; appearance in The Negro Sailor, 206; as athletic petty officer, 107; authority given to, 107; background, childhood, and education, 82–87; coaching career, 225; commendation, 205; death, 226; departure from the Navy, 214; graduate studies, 82, 88; on lack of advancement, 154; love for learning, 85–86; marriage, 88; personality, 108, 165–66; playing football, 155–56; poisoning of, 192; recruitment for officer training, 6; respect shown/ warnings given, 205–6; response to unfair orders, 107–8; at reunions of the Golden Thirteen, 220–21; service aboard YP-131, 204–5; teaching literacy, 107; at the University of Indiana, 87–88; views on Armstrong, 99, 190; with Syl White at Eniwetok, 211; work at Great Lakes following commissioning, 203–4
Mason, Sidney C., 137–38
Mason, USS: Arbor’s assignment to, 1; black sailors aboard, 147; Hair as first lieutenant aboard, 209; Hair’s discussion of race relations aboard, 208–9; Reagan’s assignment to, 158; size and mission, 2, 210
McAfee, Mildred, 196–97
McCune, S. B., 201
McMannen, Mr. (Pullman executive), 23
McMillin, Alvin “Bo,” 87–88
messman branch, US Navy: extoling of, in propaganda film, 206; renaming as steward branch, 124; reopening to black recruits, 11–12; segregation and duties, 25–26, 29, 38, 52, 55, 74
Meyer, Norman, 208–9
Migrant, USS, Baugh’s and Barnes’ assignment to, 188
Miller, Dorie, 191
Miller, Harold B., 210, 212
Miller, Richard, 38
minesweepers, 2, 4, 158
Missoula, Montana: Reagan in, 42, 44
Mixter, George W., 169
Mobile, Alabama shipyard, race riot, 136
Myrdal, Gunnar, 209
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), 24–26, 48, 72–73, 76
National Negro Congress, 76
National Newspaper Publishers Association, 186–87
National Newspaper Service, 175
National Urban League, 76, 195
National Youth Administration (NYA), Cooper as teacher with, 34
Naval Customs, Tradition and Usage, 169
The Naval Officer’s Guide (Ageton), 169
Naval Section Base, Lockwood Basin, Sublett’s training at, 6
Naval Training Station, Great Lakes. See Great Lakes Naval Training Station
Navigation and Nautical Astronomy (Dutton), 168–69
Navy, US: above-deck assignments, 73, 96; below-deck ratings, 96; black men serving in, 8, 10–11, 213; Class A instruction, 96; construction battalions, 73–74, 125, 143; disrating, 116; emphasis on cleanliness, 89–90, 132–33; engineer rating, 73; General Board rulings, 53–54, 63–64, 73; general-service rating, 1–2, 53–54, 63, 73, 134, 135, 196; integration of, 75–76, 128, 146–48, 180, 196–98, 215–16; messman branch, 11–12, 25–26, 29, 38, 52, 55, 74, 124; racist policies, segregation in, 25, 27, 38–39, 48–49, 63–64, 78, 135, 186, 226; resistance to training black officers, 8–9, 148; Special Programs Unit, 146; V-1 program, 80; V-12 program, 179–82. See also black naval officers; black officer candidates
Negro Baptist Council, Negro Double Victory Day, 68
The Negro Sailor (Capra), 206
Nelson, Charles A., 223
Nelson, Dennis Denmark, II: activities during the Korean War, 216; background, work with the Boy Scouts, 79; campaign work for Stevenson, 223; car, 189–90; death, 226; on the underutilization/low morale of trained black sailors, 135, 154; “Integration of the Negro into the U.S. Navy,” 216; limited career advancements, 217; naval background, 163; Navy career, 215; personality, 162–63; as personnel officer at Eniwetok, 211; public relations firm, 223; racism experienced as an officer, 192; recruitment for officer training, 6; remedial reading program, 189; reunion with Syl White at Eniwetok, 211; service in the Marshall Islands, 212; views on Armstrong, 99–100, 190–91; work as a recruiter for the Navy, 79
Nelson, Dennis Denmark, III, 223–24
Newby, Charles, 152
New York Age, praise for E. Roosevelt’s efforts at racial equality, 26–27
New York City: Harlem race riot, 144–45; shore leave in, 206–7
New York Times: on causes of Harlem race riot, 144–45; response to announcement of expanded opportunities for black sailors, 76–77
Nimitz, Chester, 198
Ninth Street Boys’ Club, Cincinnati, Ohio, Goodwin’s leadership of, 56
Norfolk, Virginia, racism in, 121
Oberlin, John Frederick, 59
Oberlin, Ohio, Barnes family in, 56, 58–59
Office of War Information, 38, 62 officers’ clubs: exclusion of black officers from, 180, 190–91, 198; in Guam, 201; in Okinawa, 202–3
officer of the day, 191
Ohio State University, Barnes’ doctorate from, 224
Okinawa, integration of officer’s club, 202–3
One World (Willkie), 134–35
Opportunity (National Urban League), 76
“The Patriot and the Partisan” (Vann), 13
Patterson, Robert, 28
Payton, Noble, 174–75
PC 1264, USS, black sailors aboard, 147
Pegler, Westbrook, 69–70
Penny, Richard, 213–14
Penobscot, USS, Hair’s service aboard, 166
Philadelphia, USS, treatment of messmen aboard, 38, 40
Philadelphia Tribune, on Knox’s press conference on Navy policies, 75
Physical Fitness Manual (US Navy), 170
Pinchot, Gifford, 64–66
Pinkney, J. B., 6, 182
Pittsburgh Courier: announcement of expanded opportunities for black sailors, 76; celebration of the newly commissioned officers, 182; condemnation of Knox, 38–39; criticism of Navy treatment of black sailors, 40; Double V campaign, 67–68; endorsement and support for FDR, 12–13; FBI visits to, 70; influence of, 14; letter in questioning service in a racist America, 62–63; “Philadelphia Fifteen” story, 38; praise for loosening of Navy segregation policies, 148; on rationale for shipboard segregation, 125–26
Point Loma, California, Reagan’s assignment in, 158
Poletti, Charles, 30
Polite, Margie, 144
Powell, Willie, 181
Price, John, 59
Primer of Navigation (Mixter), 168–69
quartermaster training/rating: as an above-deck assignment, 96; Arbor’s, 1–2, 164, 171; Hair’s, 4, 166; opening to black sailors, 73; White’s, 154
Quattlebaum, W. I., 169
race riots: Beaumont, Texas, 137–39; Detroit, 139–40; FDR’s decision not to address publicly, 143–44; Harlem, 1943, 144–45; New York City, 144; during the spring/summer of 1943, 136; St. Juliens
Creek, Virginia, 142
racism. See race riots; segregation; white supremacy
Randolph, A. Philip, 18, 27–30, 33, 38, 77
Reagan, Bernice Bonita Ector, 42
Reagan, John Llewellyn, 42–44
Reagan, John Walter: as apprentice chief petty officer, 91; athletic career, 215; athletic skills, 42, 44; as commander of YTB-215, 208; courting of Lillian Thomas, 121; death, 226; desire to fly with the Army Air Force, 42, 229; enlistment in the Navy, 91; family, childhood, and education, 42–43; at Hampton Institute, 109; as a Navy recruiter, 215–16; opportunity to go to Tuskegee for training, 91; promotion, 158; public relations firm, 223; recruitment for officer training, 4, 158; resistance to racism, 121–22; respect and appreciation shown to, 225; return to Hampton following commissioning, 193; at reunions of the Golden Thirteen, 220–21; service during the
Korean War, 216; as Sublett’s adjutant at Hampton, 115; support for the New Deal, 44; work at Hampton, 204
Reagan, John Walter, Jr. (“Skip”), 223
Reagan, Lillian Thomas, 121
Reagan, Willimeta, 227
recruits. See black officer candidates; black sailors
Redwine, Joe, Jr., 169
Reed, George, 211
Richmond, Paul: assignment to Camp Robert Smalls, 105–6; background and training, 177–78; concerns about black discipline, 107; curriculum for officer trainees, 168; failure to discipline Martin, 108; introduction to Chicago’s South Side, 106; meeting with Joe Louis, 107; personality, 177–78, 190; on selecting trainees, 174; shore patrol, 106; support and respect for Martin, 107–8
Ricks, Frank, 18
Robert Lindblom Technical High School, Reagan’s studies at, 44
Roosevelt, Eleanor: advocacy for civil rights, 27; blaming of, for race riots, 141–42; My Day column, 142–43; push for racial equality, integration of the military, 26–27, 51, 67, 141–42; understanding of impact of racism on war effort, 52
Roosevelt, Franklin Delano (FDR): “arsenal of democracy,” 24; Executive Order 9279, 124; failure to respond to race riots, 141; gradualist approach to integration, 27–29, 64, 125–26, 143; inspection of Great Lakes Naval Training Station, 104–5; on need to address racial conflicts, 150; promotion of Benjamin O. Davis Sr., 39; tribute to Knox, 186; wooing of the black vote, 12–13, 24, 197–98
Rowan, Carl, 128
Salina, Kansas, Brown’s experience of racism in, 124
USS Sampson, treatment of messmen aboard, 40
Sargent, Christopher S., 146
Scott, Hazel, 97
Scott, James E., 76
Sechrest, Edward, 221
segregation: black demands for change, 24, 48, 50–51, 119; continuing military support for, 9, 27, 29, 46–49, 51, 63–64, 74–76; and fears of integration, 8–9, 28–30, 33, 54, 69, 74, 127, 132; as giving comfort to the enemy, 47–49, 51, 76, 140–41; at Great Lakes Naval Training Station, 5, 78, 82, 98, 213; and racism as a national security issue, 146; rationales/ justifications for, 54, 64–65, 78–79, 98, 101, 125; and recruits from the south, 12; response of recruits from the North, 120–22, 124. See also black community; Navy, US; race riots; white supremacy
Selective Training and Service Act, 25
Sengstacke, John, 70–71, 143, 186–87
Sherman, Ted, 192
Ship’s Company Band, Great Lakes, 97
