The Golden Thirteen

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