Golden Thirteen

Last updated
The Golden Thirteen
Golden Thirteen 1944.jpg
The Golden Thirteen, photographed on 17 March 1944. Top row: John Walter Reagan, Jesse Walter Arbor, Dalton Louis Baugh, Frank Ellis Sublett. Middle row: Graham Edward Martin, Charles Byrd Lear, Phillip George Barnes, Reginald E. Goodwin. Bottom row: James Edward Hair, Samuel Edward Barnes, George Clinton Cooper, William Sylvester White, Dennis Denmark Nelson. [1]
Active1944 –
CountryUnited States of America
Branch Navy

The Golden Thirteen were the thirteen African American enlisted men who became the first African American commissioned and warrant officers in the United States Navy.

Contents

History

Throughout the history of the United States until the end of World War I, the Navy had enlisted African Americans for general service, but they were barred from joining from 1919 to 1932. From 1893 onwards, African Americans could only join the Navy’s Messman’s and Steward’s branches, which not only segregated African Americans from the rest of the Navy community, but also precluded them from becoming commissioned officers. [2]

In June 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the executive order #8802 prohibiting ethnic and racial discrimination by federal agencies or contractors involved in the defense industry. [3]

In April 1942, thanks to protests and pressure from civil rights leaders and the black press, the Navy allowed black men into the general service ratings for the first time. [4]

Responding to pressure from First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Assistant Secretary of the Navy Adlai Stevenson, in January 1944, the Navy began an officer training course for 16 African-American enlisted men at Camp Robert Smalls, Recruit Training Center Great Lakes (now known as Great Lakes Naval Training Station), in Illinois.

To ensure their failure, [5] the normal training period of 16 weeks was reduced to 8 weeks for the black cadets. When they realized that someone in the Navy wanted them to wash out, the cadets covered up the windows of their barracks and studied all night. When they were tested, the entire group passed with high marks. Disbelief in the chain of command that an all-black cadet class could achieve higher scores than an all-white one meant that the black sailors had to suffer the indignity of retaking their tests. Again, all 16 passed; the class average at graduation was 3.89. [6]

Although all sixteen members of the class passed the course, only twelve were commissioned in March 1944: Jesse Walter Arbor (1914–2000), Phillip George Barnes (1909-1949), Samuel Edward Barnes (1915-1997), Dalton Louis Baugh Sr. (1912-1985), George Clinton Cooper (1916-2002), Reginald Ernest Goodwin (1907-1974), James Edward Hair (1915–1992), Graham Edward Martin (1919-2006), Dennis Denmark Nelson (1907-1979), John Walter Reagan (1920–1994), Frank Ellis Sublett (1920-2006), and William S. White (1914-2004) were commissioned as Ensigns; Charles Byrd Lear (1916–1946) was appointed as a Warrant Officer. Augustus Alves, J.B. Pinkney, and Lewis "Mummy" Williams also passed the exam but were not given commissions. The reason why only 13 gained rank, despite all the men being successful in training was never explained, but it is noted that this rate brought the pass-rate down to the level of the average class of white candidates. [1] [6] [7]

Because Navy policy barred blacks from being assigned to combat ships, the first class of black officers were assigned to command shore logistics units, small tug and tender ships, and training African American enlisted. [8]

Postwar

President Harry S. Truman officially desegregated the U.S. military in 1948. At the time of the Golden Thirteen's commissioning, there were approximately 100,000 African-American men serving in the United States Navy's enlisted ranks.

Of the 13, most separated just after the war as LTJG. Three, Baugh, Nelson, and Reagan, remained until retiring as LCDR. Samuel Barnes became the athletic director at Howard University and served on the executive committee of the NCAA, the first African-American to do so. Dalton Baugh served as an instructor of the Navy Engineering School and later at MIT. Dennis Nelson served as a Public Affair Officer and submitted a report entitled "The Integration of the Negro into the U.S. Navy", which was subsequently published as a book in 1951. William White would go on to serve as the presiding judge of the Cook County Juvenile Court and justice of the Illinois Appellate Court. [7] [9]

Frank E. Sublett, the last living member of the group, died in 2006. [1] [10]

The Golden Thirteen's Legacy

On Monday April 11, 1982, the Golden Thirteen were brought together for a weeklong celebration of their 1944 accomplishment. On the evening of April 12, 1982, they were feted at a reception by the Tidewater Chapter of the National Naval Officers Association at the Breezy Point Officers Club. The reception was covered by all of the local Tidewater media as well as national media. On the morning of April 13, the men were heloed out to the USS KIDD where they were given a three-day VIP tour of the ship and updated on the "modern Navy." The men departed the KIDD on the 15th after two days of "at sea" orientation and national media interviews. The highlight of the at sea cruise was the unexpected reunion of the men with one of their "long lost" classmates, Mr. James Hair, who learned of the reunion from television interviews he saw while at home in Brooklyn, NY. The morning of 16 April 1982, the men were flown to Washington, DC, via Eastern Airlines, given a tour of the Pentagon, and met with and had a two-hour lunch with the Secretary of the Navy, John Lehman, then Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral James Watkins, and the Chief of Navy Information, RADM Bruce Newell. The week concluded as it began, with a media covered reception, hosted by the DC Chapter of the National Naval Officers Association at the Clarendon Hotel across from the Pentagon. "In The Shadow of The Golden Thirteen - A Nice Negro Story" by Gerald Collins https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Golden.../dp/1421835428

In 1987, the U.S. Navy reunited the seven living members to dedicate a building in their honor at Great Lakes Naval Recruit Training Command, Illinois. Today, Building 1405 at RTC Great Lakes, where recruits first arrive for basic training, is named "The Golden Thirteen" in honor of them.

In 2006, ground was broken on a World War II memorial in North Chicago, Illinois to honor the Golden Thirteen and Doris Miller. Today, the Golden 13 Memorial is located at Veterans Memorial Park, Sheridan Boulevard & 18th Street. [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada, Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Kenya.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benjamin O. Davis Sr.</span> United States Army general 1970)

Benjamin Oliver Davis Sr. was a career officer in the United States Army. One of the few black officers in an era when American society was largely segregated, in 1940 he was promoted to brigadier general, the army's first African American general officer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port Chicago disaster</span> 1944 munitions ship explosion in California

The Port Chicago disaster was a deadly munitions explosion of the ship SS E. A. Bryan on July 17, 1944, at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in Port Chicago, California, United States. Munitions being loaded onto a cargo vessel bound for the Pacific Theater of Operations detonated, killing 320 sailors and civilians and injuring at least 390 others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel L. Gravely Jr.</span> United States Navy Vice Admiral

Samuel Lee Gravely Jr. was a United States Navy officer. He was the first African American in the U.S. Navy to serve aboard a fighting ship as an officer, the first to command a Navy ship, the first fleet commander, and the first to become a flag officer, retiring as a vice admiral.

Sub-lieutenant is usually a junior officer rank, used in armies, navies and air forces.

USS <i>PC-1264</i>

USS PC-1264 was a PC-461-class submarine chaser built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was one of only two U.S. Navy ships to have a predominantly African-American enlisted complement during the war, the other being the Evarts-class destroyer escortUSS Mason.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WAVES</span> Womens branch of the United States Naval Reserve during World War II

United States Naval Reserve (Women's Reserve), better known as the WAVES (for Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service), was the women's branch of the United States Naval Reserve during World War II. It was established on July 21, 1942, by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on July 30. This authorized the U.S. Navy to accept women into the Naval Reserve as commissioned officers and at the enlisted level, effective for the duration of the war plus six months. The purpose of the law was to release officers and men for sea duty and replace them with women in shore establishments. Mildred H. McAfee, on leave as president of Wellesley College, became the first director of the WAVES. She was commissioned a lieutenant commander on August 3, 1942, and later promoted to commander and then to captain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naval Station Great Lakes</span> United States Navy base

Naval Station Great Lakes is the home of the United States Navy's only current boot camp, located near North Chicago, in Lake County, Illinois. Important tenant commands include the Recruit Training Command, Training Support Center and Navy Recruiting District Chicago. Naval Station Great Lakes is the largest military installation in Illinois and the largest training station in the Navy. The base has 1,153 buildings situated on 1,628 acres (6.59 km2) and has 69 mi (111 km) of roadway to provide access to the base's facilities. Within the naval service, it has several different nicknames, including "The Quarterdeck of the Navy". It is also referred to as "second boot camp" while at Training Support Command.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SPARS</span> Womens branch of the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve during WWII

SPARS was the authorized nickname for the United States Coast Guard (USCG) Women's Reserve. The nickname is an acronym fashioned from the USCG's motto, Latin: "Semper Paratus"—"Always Ready" (SPAR). The Women's Reserve was established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on November 23, 1942. The law authorized the USCG to accept women into its Women's Reserve as commissioned officers and at the enlisted level for the duration of World War II plus six months. Its purpose was to release male officers and enlisted men for sea duty by replacing them with women at shore stations. This same month, Dorothy C. Stratton was appointed director of the Women's Reserve and given the rank of lieutenant commander. She was later promoted to captain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jesse L. Brown</span> United States Navy officer (1926–1950)

Jesse LeRoy Brown was a United States Navy officer. He was the first African-American aviator to complete the United States Navy's basic flight training program, the first African-American naval officer killed in the Korean War, and a recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Military history of African Americans</span> Aspect of African American history

The military history of African Americans spans African-American history, the history of the United States and the military history of the United States from the arrival of the first enslaved Africans during the colonial history of the United States to the present day. African Americans have participated in every war which has been fought either by or within the United States, including the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican–American War, the Civil War, the Spanish–American War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, the War in Afghanistan, and the Iraq War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Illinois</span> U.S. Navy command unit for recruit training

The Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, is a command unit within the United States Navy primarily responsible for conducting the initial orientation of incoming recruits, also known as boot camp and recruit training, or RTC. It is part of Naval Service Training Command. It is a tenant command of Naval Station Great Lakes in the city of North Chicago, Illinois, in Lake County, north of Chicago.

The US Navy had four programs for the training of naval aviators.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Desegregation in the United States Marine Corps</span>

The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is a desegregated force, made up of troops of all races working and fighting alongside each other. In 1776 and 1777, a dozen African American Marines served in the American Revolutionary War, but from 1798 to 1942, the USMC followed a racially discriminatory policy of denying African Americans the opportunity to serve as Marines. For more than 140 years, the Marines recruited primarily European Americans and Hispanic and Latino Americans, along with a few Asian Americans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camp Robert Smalls</span> US Naval training facility in Illinois

Camp Robert Smalls was a United States Naval training facility, created pursuant to an order signed April 21, 1942, by Frank Knox, then Secretary of the Navy, for the purpose of training African-American seamen at a time when the USN was still segregated by race.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Officer (armed forces)</span> Person in a position of authority

An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Racial segregation in the United States Armed Forces</span> Policies on racial separation in the U.S. military

A series of policies were formerly issued by the U.S. military which entailed the separation of white and non-white American soldiers, prohibitions on the recruitment of people of color and restrictions of ethnic minorities to supporting roles. Since the American Revolutionary War, each branch of the United States Armed Forces implemented differing policies surrounding racial segregation. Racial discrimination in the U.S. military was officially opposed by Harry S. Truman's Executive Order 9981 in 1948. The goal was equality of treatment and opportunity. Jon Taylor says, "The wording of the Executive Order was vague because it neither mentioned segregation or integration." Racial segregation was ended in the mid-1950s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">51st Defense Battalion</span> World War II American coastal defense unit

The 51st Defense Battalion was an antiaircraft and coastal defense unit in the United States Marine Corps that served during World War II. The battalion was originally formed in August 1942 and was the first African American unit in the Marine Corps. Its original mission was to provide air and coastal defense for advanced naval bases. During the war the battalion served in the Ellice and Marshall Islands, in the Pacific Theater. The 51st returned to Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina after the war and was decommissioned on January 31, 1946. To date, no other Marine Corps battalion has carried the lineage and honors of the 51st Defense Battalion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Sylvester White</span> American judge (1914–2004)

William Sylvester White, was a prosecutor, a member of the first cohort of African-Americans commissioned officers in the U.S. Navy, and the second African-American to serve as presiding judge for the Cook County Juvenile Court.

Graham E. Martin was an officer in the United States Navy and one of the Navy's "Golden Thirteen."

References

  1. 1 2 3 Cronk, Kenneth. "Last of the "Golden 13" Dies". United States Navy . United States Navy . Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  2. ↑ "Freedom To Serve: Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services. A Report by The President's Committee". Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1950.[ dead link ]
  3. ↑ Danelo, 2005.
  4. ↑ Goldberg, Dan (19 May 2020). The Golden Thirteen: How Black Men Won The Right To Wear Navy Gold. Beacon Press. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  5. ↑ Wall Street Journal, August 7, 2020, p.A15
  6. 1 2 Goldberg, Dan. "The Forgotten Story of How 13 Black Men Broke the Navy's Toughest Color Barrier". POLITICO. Retrieved 2022-02-15.
  7. 1 2 "The Golden Thirteen". Naval History and Heritage Command. 25 November 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  8. ↑ Staff (ed.). "Golden Thirteen". Britannica.
  9. ↑ Nelson, Dennis Denmark (1951). The integration of the Negro into the United States Navy. Farrar, Straus and Young. ISBN   978-0374960551.
  10. ↑ "Last of the "Golden 13" Dies". Navy News Wire Service. United States Navy. Archived from the original on 2006-11-23.
  11. ↑ "Illinois Military Museums and Veterans Memorials" (PDF). Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Development, Office of Tourism, October 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2023.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.