President's Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services explained

Longtitle:President's Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services
Shorttitle:Fahy Committee
Establishedpresident:Harry S. Truman
Establisheddate:July 26, 1948
Executiveorder:9981
Disbandeddate:May 22, 1950
Chairperson:Charles Fahy
Othermembers:Alphonsus Donahue
Lester Granger
Charles Luckman
Dwight R.G. Palmer
John H. Sengstacke
William E. Stevenson
Purpose:Examine the practices of the armed forces and suggest measures to guarantee equality of treatment and opportunity
Policy Areas:Civil rights
Summary:
  • Positions in the armed services open to all races
  • Courses in military schools open to all races
  • Armed forces racially integrated
  • Limitations on African-American enlistment in the armed forces abolished

The President's Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services, or the Fahy Committee[1] was formed by President Harry S Truman as part of Executive Order 9981.[2] This committee consisted of Charles Fahy as chairman and six other members, two of whom were African-American. The committee's main purpose was to oversee successful racial integration of the US Armed Forces.[3]

President Truman abolished the commission on July 6, 1950, on what he termed successful completion of integration in the armed forces.

Membership

The committee consisted of the following 7 members:

However, Alphonsus Donahue died in July 1949 and Charles Luckman was not active in the committee, reducing the number of members who submitted the committee's final report to 5.[4]

Report

The committee's findings were published in their final report Freedom to Serve: Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services on 22 May 1950. The committee argued that segregation was detrimental to the military's efficiency, in contrast to the claims of pro-segregation officials including the Secretary of the Army, Air Force, and Navy.[5] [6]

References

  1. Book: Dalfiume, Richard . 1969 . 175. Desegregation of the U.S. Armed Forces.
  2. Web site: Executive Order 9981 . 11 November 2017.
  3. Web site: Archived copy . 2010-07-02 . 2010-06-23 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100623051504/http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/desegregation/large/index.php . dead .
  4. Book: The President’s Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services . 22 May 1950 . Freedom to Serve: Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services . Washington, D.C. . United States Government Printing Office . VII-XII.
  5. Book: Taylor, John E. . 2013 . Freedom to Serve: Truman, Civil Rights, and Executive Order 9981 . New York . Routledge . 100–101 . 9780415894494.
  6. Web site: Statement of Honorable Kenneth C. Royall, Secretary of the Army, Before the President's Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services . . 22 March 1949 . Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum . 31 July 2018 .

External links