WHY IS THIS RELEVANT NOW?
The increasing discussion of why military recruitment of blacks is down is taking place all over. The discussion stems from the USA Today report back in 2005. If one considers the ill treatment of blacks in the military from Cripus Attucks until now, it’s no real surprise. WWI and WWII veterans including Tuskegee Airmen fought for a country in foreign lands in which their foreign captors treated them better. Shall we talk about Port Chicago. I even remember as a kid black Vietnam veterans seething over discrimination. In spite of those mountainous battles, African Americans have still achieved. I bring to your attention the Golden Thirteen.
SCOPE NOTE
Men who deeply desired to demonstrate excellence in naval services were relegated to lowly duties until bowing to the pressure from civil rights organizations, Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt affected the course of sixteen men who were chosen for general duty. Having the opportunity to be groomed for ledership, the secretary of the navy moved on the idea to train 12 black officers and a one warrant officer. The men who passed the rigorous training dubbed themselves the Golden Thirteen became the first officers in the US Navy history.
PUBLISHED MATERIAL(S)
The Golden Thirteen: recollections of the first Black naval officers/edited by Paul Stillwell
Integration of the Negro into the United States Navy, 1776-1947
REFERENCE
African American Almanac
POSSIBLE KEYWORD SEARCH(ES)
Golden Thirteen
blacks + US Navy African-Americans + Steward’s Service
african american + sea-going bell hops
african americans + sea services
MULTIMEDIA
African-Americans and the U.S. Navy — The “Golden Thirteen”
RELEVANT WEBSITE(S)
http://toptags.com/aama/bio/groups/gthirteen.htm
KEY FIGURE(S)
William Sylvester White
