Camp Robert Smalls Explained

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.^[1]

The camp was located inside the Great Lakes Naval Training Center in Illinois and named for Robert Smalls, a black naval hero of the American Civil War.^[2] The camp's first commander was Lieutenant Commander Daniel Armstrong, whose father had founded the Hampton Institute and had "brought him up to understand race problems." The Navy began enlisting Negro seamen on June 1, 1942, and the first class of 277 enlistees began training at Camp Robert Smalls later that month. Of that class, 222 completed the training successfully on September 3, 1942. 102 of those graduates were chosen to continue with specialized training, and the rest of the class was assigned to routine duties.^[3]

The first classes of men to be trained at the camp had "no hope of being commissioned."^[4] However, the Navy began training officer candidates at Camp Robert Smalls towards the end of 1943.^[5]

Robert Smalls's great-grandson, Edward Estes Davidson, trained at Camp Robert Smalls,^[6] as did Owen Dodson,^[7] Larry Doby,^[8] Clark Terry,^[9] and Charles Sebree.^[10]

See also

• Executive Order 9981
• Golden Thirteen

External links

• Web site: African Americans and the U.S. Navy, World War II Activities in the United States, Great Lakes Naval Training Station, General Views . Naval History and Heritage Command, USN . 14 September 2011.

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Notes and References

1. Book: MacGregor, Morris J.. Integration of the Armed Forces, 1940-1965. 13 September 2011. December 1981. Government Printing Office. 978-0-16-001925-8. 67ff.
2. Book: Schneller, Robert John. Breaking the color barrier: the U.S. Naval Academy's first Black midshipmen and the struggle for racial equality. 13 September 2011. April 2005. NYU Press. 978-0-8147-4013-2. 150.
3. News: Negroes Finish Course: First Groups of Naval Recruits End Basic Training . The New York Times. 4 September 1942 . 21. 5 October 2020. subscription.
4. The New Republic. 13 March 1944. Milner . Lucille B. . Jim Crow in the Army: February 1944. reprinted in Book: Carson. Clayborne. Clayborne Carson. Garrow. David J.. David J. Garrow. Kovach. Bill. Bill Kovach. Reporting Civil Rights: American journalism, 1941-1963. 13 September 2011. 2003. Library of America. 52–61.
5. Book: Stillwell, Paul. The Golden Thirteen: Recollections of the First Black Naval Officers. 13 September 2011. 31 May 2003. Naval Institute Press. 39–41. 978-1-59114-840-1.
6. Book: Billingsley, Andrew. Yearning to breathe free: Robert Smalls of South Carolina and his families. 13 September 2011. May 2007. Univ of South Carolina Press. 978-1-57003-686-6. 202.
7. Book: Hatch, James V.. Sorrow Is the Only Faithful One: The Life of Owen Dodson. registration. 13 September 2011. 1 January 1995. University of Illinois Press. 978-0-252-06477-7. 93.
8. Book: Moore, Joseph Thomas. Pride against prejudice: the biography of Larry Doby. 13 September 2011. 3 March 1988. ABC-CLIO. 978-0-275-92984-8. 25–.
9. Book: Terry. Clark. Clark Terry. Terry. Gwen. Clark: The Autobiography of Clark Terry. 13 September 2011. 1 October 2011. University of California Press. 978-0-520-26846-3. 67.
10. Web site: Charles Sebree 1914–1985. Cengage Learning. 21 February 2016.