African American Sailors | WW2 Era US Navy Documentary | 1945

This vintage film is a propaganda documentary produced by the U.S. Department of the Navy. It was directed by Henry Levin and probably used as a recruiting film. Although it was completed in 1945, the film was not released until 1946. It honors the heroic service of African-Americans in the U.S. Navy during World War 2. It also emphasizes integration and advancement based on ability, equal treatment, and teamwork in the Navy.

Plot:
The film stars Joel Fluellen as a draftee from his civilian job at a newspaper through basic training and an assignment in the Pacific. It shows footage of Hampton Institute, the U.S. Naval Training School for African-American Navy enlisted men in the mid-1940s. All phases of Navy boot camp are represented as integrated and equal. The film points out that all Navy ratings are open to African Americans and shows sailors learning navigation, radio operation, aviation mechanics, and other specialties. The film celebrates African American non-combatants who received distinguished Navy Service Awards for bravery: Doris (Dorie) Miller, Elbert H. Oliver, William Pinckney, and Leonard Roy Harmon.

Cast:
American actor Spencer Williams as Frank Roberts (columnist)
American actor Joel Fluellen as Bill Johnson (sailor)


HISTORICAL BACKGROUND / CONTEXT

When the United States entered WW2 in December 1941, segregation had permeated every aspect of American society. When African American men volunteered for duty or were drafted, they were assigned to segregated divisions and often given support roles, such as cook, quartermaster and grave-digging duty. According to British personnel in the BEF, meals in the US Army were served with the white servicemen being served in one line and the black servicemen and officers in another. Because of African American protests against the Army's treatment of its black soldiers, military leadership began to attempt to address the issue beginning in 1943, but segregation in the armed forces remained official policy until 1948.

US Navy:
In June 1940 the US Navy had 4,007 African American personnel, representing 2.3 percent of its total strength of nearly 170,000. All of these African Americans were enlisted men, and with the exception of six regular-rated seamen, all were steward's mates. They were characterized by the black press as "seagoing bellhops." Within a month after Pearl Harbor (December 7th, 1941), the number of African Americans in the Navy had increased to 5,026; however, they were still restricted to working as steward's mates.

After intense pressure from the NAACP, the Black Press, and President Roosevelt, the Navy began to open ratings to black sailors in 1942. Ultimately, over 160,000 African Americans served in the Navy. The first black officers were commissioned in March 1944. Known as the Golden Thirteen, the officers were not allowed to command white sailors and instead were put in charge of black work details.

The destroyer-escort USS Mason (DE-529) was the only Navy vessel in WW2 with an entirely black crew who were not cooks or waiters. In 1995, 11 surviving crew members were all given belated recognition and letters of commendation from Navy Secretary John Dalton for having braved harsh weather and quickly welding the cracks in their ship so they could continue escorting support ships to England.

The Navy did not allow women of color until January 25, 1945. The first African American woman sworn into the Navy was Phyllis Mae Dailey, a nurse and Columbia University student from New York. She was the first of only four African American women to serve in the navy during WW2.

For more information about this historical topic, see:
https://bit.ly/2m2UM5Y
and
https://bit.ly/2lZZeo8