The Golden Thirteen

February 1, 1993
In 1944, responding to pressure from Eleanor Roosevelt and Adlai Stevenson (the latter then serving as assistant to the Navy secretary), the Navy reluctantly turned 13 black enlisted men into officers--the first African American officers in the branch. Not knowing where to assign them, the Bureau of Personnel put them to work on harbor craft and supervising stevedores. Though their naval service was not in itself particularly interesting, their commissioning represented an important breakthrough, for it led to an increase in opportunities for African Americans in the armed forces. As Gen. Colin Powell remarks in the foreword, this collection of interviews with eight surviving members of the group (plus three white officers who served with them) is not so much about their years in the Navy as it is about ``what it was to grow up, to make a living, to be American, to be black'' in the middle years of this century. Only one of the 13 made a career of the Navy; the others, after serving honorably, returned to civilian life and became, variously, a football coach, a teacher, a dealership service-manager, a city planner, an NCAA official, a judge, a social worker, an Urban League official. Stillwell directs the oral history program at the Naval Institute. Photos.