“Anthony, how about it?”: Testimony of Douglas Anthony, Trial Transcript, 419.
“Jack, now you’re a fine”: Crittenden interview.
Summary of day, numbers involved: Allen, Port Chicago, 82.
Prison Barge
“We were packed”: Small interview.
“We were all scared”: Crittenden interview.
“Two men would get”: Small interview.
“There’s no rule”: Small interview.
“I saw spoons”: Small interview.
“Now, the slightest provocation”: Small interview.
“It was a pretty hairy situation”: Small interview.
“All right fellows”: Small interview.
“We were stubborn”: Robinson interview.
“Improve working conditions”: Small interview.
“Something’s up”: Small interview.
“Just in case you don’t know”: Allen, Port Chicago, 85.
“But what you going to do?”: Robinson interview.
“He can’t be telling”: Robinson interview.
“I’ve got a wife”: Crittenden interview.
“How could it be”: Bordenave interview.
“Man, this guy can’t”: Crittenden interview.
“I have been ordered”: Testimony of Ernest Delucchi, Trial Transcript, 62.
“I concentrated”: Small interview.
“We didn’t even know”: Robinson interview.
“You gonna let them shoot”: Gay interview.
The Fifty
“The admiral wants to talk”: Small interview.
“Small, you are the leader”: Small interview.
“You bald-headed son”: Small interview.
“That branded me”: Small interview.
“Go on brothers”: Routh interview.
“Small, how do you feel”: Chronicle Broadcasting, Port Chicago Mutiny.
“I, for one”: Small interview.
“An unlawful opposition”: Statement of Gerald Veltmann, pg. 1, printed with Trial Transcript.
“There are undoubtedly”: Report from Commanding Officer Goss, pg. 2, printed with Trial Transcript.
“The refusal to perform”: Admiral Wright report to Secretary Forrestal, pg. 2, printed with Trial Transcript.
“They were activated”: Allen, Port Chicago, 91.
FDR passes note to Eleanor: Allen, Port Chicago, 91.
“conspired each with the other”: Official Charge, Trial Transcript, 2.
Background information on James Coakley was found in: Allen, Port Chicago, 92.
“Small was supposed”: Waldrop interview.
“Well, somebody has got to be”: Waldrop interview.
“Jack, I’m here to help”: Crittenden interview.
“I didn’t say the things”: Crittenden interview.
Bannon-Small interview, beginning, “How was it that the men”: The record of this interview was read at the court-martial trial, Testimony of Joseph Small, Trial Transcript, 389.
“It wasn’t discussed”: Small interview.
Coakley’s investigation is described in: Allen, Port Chicago, 87–88.
Gerald Veltmann background information comes from: Allen, Port Chicago, 92.
“I figured we’d go”: Bordenave, interview.
“Oh I would say”: Chronicle Broadcasting, Port Chicago Mutiny.
Treasure Island
Details of the courtroom setting and interior are found in: Allen, Port Chicago, 93; “Paradox in Mutiny Trial,” People’s World, October 28, 1944.
“You have heard the charge”: Statement of James Coakley, Trial Transcript, 4.
Testimony of Commander Joseph Tobin: Trial Transcript, 14–36.
Testimony of Lieutenant Ernest Delucchi: Trial Transcript, 36–89.
Prosecution
“We concede the fact”: “No Conspiracy to Mutiny,” California Eagle, Sept. 21, 1944.
“The Negro people are well aware”: “Trial of Negro Sailors Begins,” People’s World, September 18, 1944.
James Forrestal’s point of view and plans for change are discussed in: MacGregor, Integration, 84; Granger, “Racial Democracy,” 61–62.
“Admiral, I’d like to make a change”: Nichols, Breakthrough, 62.
Testimony of Edward Johnson: Trial Transcript, 165.
The reporter’s description of Coakley comes from: “Murder Threat in Navy Trial,” People’s World, October 5, 1944.
Testimony of Joseph Gray: Trial Transcript, 233–234.
Testimony of Edward Stubblefield, Trial Transcript, 186–190.
“Did anybody ever try”: Testimony of John Thompson, Trial Transcript, 249–250.
The detail of the judges nodding off is found in: Allen, Port Chicago, 104; “Paradox in Mutiny Trial,” People’s World, October 28, 1944.
“There is no sufficient evidence”: Long, Marshalling Justice, 141.
Joe Small
Testimony of Joseph Small: Trial Transcript, 365–406.
Years after the trial, Small described Veltmann’s advice in his interview with Robert Allen: Small interview.
“Defense counsel are good”: Williams, Thurgood Marshall, 126.
“I’m Thurgood Marshall”: Sheppard interview.
“He just said to play it cool”: Meeks interview.
“The defense strategy”: Bordenave interview.
“The guy who was defending”: Waldrop interview.
“I discussed it with them”: Small interview.
“We couldn’t volunteer”: Small interview.
“That was the atmosphere”: “Port Chicago 50” radio broadcast.
The Verdict
Testimony of John Dunn: Trial Transcript, 348–364.
Testimony of Julius Dixson: Trial Transcript, 650–659.
Testimony of Ollie Green: Trial Transcript, 326–348; Green’s unsolicited “I got a couple of things to say” testimony is on 348.
The reaction to Green’s unexpected testimony is described in: Allen, Port Chicago, 109.
Testimony of Frank Henry: Trial Transcript, 990–1011.
Testimony of Alphonso McPherson: Trial Transcript, 683–695.
“Lose your head”: Ball, Defiant Life, 67.
“The NAACP is going to”: “NAACP Will Expose Jim Crow Set-Up,” People’s World, October 17, 1944.
“A Navy Department investigation”: “Marshall Demands Navy Probe,” People’s World, October 19, 1944.
Coakley’s closing argument: Trial Transcript, 1348–1376.
Veltmann’s closing argument: Trial Transcript, 1377–1403.
The judges deliberated (and, presumably, ate lunch) from 11:55 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.: Trial Transcript, 1435.
Hard Labor
“My knees almost hit”: Sheppard interview.
“The verdict was guilty”: “Port Chicago 50” radio broadcast.
“Fifteen years”: Crittenden interview.
“I tried to calm the men”: Small interview.
A description of the men being taken to Terminal Island is found in: Allen, Port Chicago, 128.
“You can look all the way”: Waldrop interview.
“Everything was rigged”: Small interview.
Veltmann reported Osterhaus’s “We’re going to find them guilty” quote in a documentary decades after the trial: Chronicle Broadcasting, Port Chicago Mutiny.
“one of the worst frame-ups”: Allen, Port Chicago, 130.
“Why is it that the only”: Long, Marshalling Justice, 142.
Forrestal’s response to Marshall is described in: Long, Marshalling Justice, 148.
“The assimilation”: MacGregor, Integration, 85.
“Before we reached”: Nichols, Breakthrough, 60.
“The Navy has denied them”: NAACP pamphlet “Mutiny?” 14.
“Hard labor was anything”: Terkel, The Good War, 398.
The Guam incident is described in: MacGregor, Integration, 92–93.
Information on the Camp Ro
usseau hunger strike was found in: Nelson, The Integration, 84.
Forrestal’s push toward integration is described in: Allen, Port Chicago, 134–135; MacGregor, Integration, 94–95.
“The Navy accepts no theories”: MacGregor, Integration, 84.
“We didn’t socialize”: Waldrop interview.
The text of Marshall’s statement to the Navy appeal board is printed in the Trial Transcript. It is not assigned page numbers in the document, but is found toward the beginning, before the testimony begins.
The Navy’s response to Marshall’s appeal is described in the Trial Transcript, following Marshall’s statement, and in Allen, Port Chicago, 133.
“The trials were conducted”: Long, Marshalling Justice, 148.
“It is shocking”: Long, Marshalling Justice, 148.
“All the appeals were over”: Marshall interview.
“I should be happy to confer”: Long, Marshalling Justice, 148.
Small Goes to Sea
Granger’s report to Forrestal is described in: Allen, Port Chicago, 135; MacGregor, Integration, 96. For a detailed description of his work with the Navy, see: Granger, “Racial Democracy—The Navy Way” 61–66.
“I hope in the case”: Roosevelt, Eleanor. Letter to James Forrestal, April 8, 1945. Records of the Navy, Correspondence Files of the Secretary of the Navy, James Forrestal.
“Pack your bags!” Small interview.
“How far are we”: Small interview.
“There was plenty of curiosity”: Small interview.
Navy ends segregation: Wollenberg, “Blacks vs. Navy Blue,” 62–75.
Truman’s Executive Order 9981: “Desegregation of the Armed Forces.” Online timeline at the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum: http://www.trumanlibrary.org
“I was the first black seaman”: Small interview.
Small described his his fight with Alex and subsequent friendship in: Small interview; Terkel, The Good War, 399–400.
Epilogue: Civil Rights Heroes
Jackie Robinson’s military experience and court-martial is detailed in: Vernon, “Jim Crow, Meet Lieutenant Robinson,” 36–43.
“Things had changed”: Sikes interview.
“I never talked about my past”: Chronicle Broadcasting, Port Chicago Mutiny.
“It would hurt inside”: “Port Chicago 50” radio broadcast.
“Every time I would bring it up”: “Port Chicago 50” radio broadcast.
“It branded me”: “Port Chicago 50” radio broadcast.
“I didn’t have so hard”: Small interview.
“I’m glad that I have lived”: Routh interview.
“I feel that the country”: Chronicle Broadcasting, Port Chicago Mutiny.
Efforts to convince the Navy to reopen the case are summarized in: Allen, Port Chicago, 183–186.
“It’s like trying to fight”: Edwards interview.
“We don’t want a pardon”: “Navy Refuses to Reopen Court-Martial Cases,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 22, 1990.
“racial discrimination did play a part”: “Port Chicago 50” radio broadcast.
“After all these years”: Allen, Port Chicago, 186.
For the story of Freddie Meeks receiving his pardon, see: “From Peril to Pardon,” Los Angeles Times, December 24, 1999.
“I think it was worth the effort”: Robinson interview.
“Well, I don’t know”: Meeks interview.
“I’m glad I did it”: Bordenave interview.
“Everything we’ve gotten”: Bordenave interview.
Small sums up: Small interview.
“I was fighting”: “Port Chicago 50” radio broadcast.
LIST OF WORKS CITED
Books
Allen, Robert L. The Port Chicago Mutiny: The Story of the Largest Mass Mutiny Trial in U.S. Naval History. New York: Warner Books, 1989.
Ball, Howard. A Defiant Life: Thurgood Marshall & the Persistence of Racism in America. New York: Crown Publishers, 1998.
Bell, Christopher M. and Bruce Elleman, eds. Naval Mutinies of the Twentieth Century: An International Perspective. London: Frank Cass Publishers, 2003.
Buchanan, Russell A. Black Americans in World War II. Santa Barbara, CA: Clio Books, 1977.
Dalfiume, Richard, M. Desegregation of the U.S. Armed Forces: Fighting on Two Fronts, 1939–1953. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 1969.
Editors of Yank: The Best from YANK the Army Weekly, 1945. Cleveland, OH: World Pub., 1945.
Gerstle, Gary. American Crucible: Race and Nation in the Twentieth Century. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2001.
James, Rawn, Jr. Root and Branch: Charles Hamilton Houston, Thurgood Marshall, and the Struggle to End Segregation. New York: Bloomsday Press, 2010.
Lash, Joseph P. Eleanor and Franklin: The Story of Their Relationship Based on Eleanor Roosevelt’s Private Papers. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1971.
Long, Michael G., ed. Marshalling Justice: The Early Civil Rights Letters. New York: Amistad, 2011.
MacGregor, Morris J. Integration of the Armed Forces. Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, United States Army, 1985.
McGuire, Phillip. Taps for a Jim Crow Army: Letters from Black Soldiers in World War II. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio, 1983.
Miller, Richard, E. The Messman Chronicles: African Americans in the U.S. Navy, 1932–1943. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2004.
Morehouse, Maggi M. Fighting in the Jim Crow Army: Black Men and Women Remember World War II. Lantham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2000.
Nalty, Bernard, C. Strength for the Fight: A History of Black Americans in the Military. New York: The Free Press, 1989.
Nelson, Dennis. The Integration of the Negro into the U.S. Navy. New York: Farrar, Straus and Young, 1951.
Nichols, Lee. Breakthrough on the Color Front. New York: Random House, 1954.
Prange, Gordon W. Dec 7, 1941: The Day the Japanese Attacked Pearl Harbor. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1988.
Rampersad, Arnold and Rachel Robinson. Jackie Robinson: A Biography. New York: Random House, 1997.
Sullivan, Patricia. Lift Every Voice: The NAACP and the Making of the Civil Rights Movement. New York: New Press, 2009.
Terkel, Studs. The Good War: An Oral History of World War Two. New York: New Press, 1984.
Tushnet, Mark V. Making Civil Rights Law: Thurgood Marshall and the Supreme Court, 1936–1961. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.
White, Walter. A Man Called White: The Autobiography of Walter White. New York: Viking Press, 1948.
Williams, Juan. Thurgood Marshall: American Revolutionary. New York: Three Rivers Press, 1998.
Articles & Paphlets
“50 Navy Sentences Reported Voided,” New York Times, January 7, 1946.
“50 Sailors Face Trial for Mutiny,” Chicago Defender, September 23, 1944.
“83 Sailors Back on Duty; Forrestal Reinstated Negroes Convicted in Two Cases,” New York Times, January 8, 1946.
“300 Die in Bay Arms Ship Blast,” Oakland Tribune, July 18, 1944.
“Along the NAACP Battlefront,” The Crisis (magazine of the NAACP), April 1943, 116–118.
“At Least 350 Dead As Munitions Ships Blow Up On Coast,” New York Times, July 19, 1944.
“Believes Sailors Innocent of Charge,” Pittsburgh Courier, November 4, 1944.
“Blast at Port Chicago,” People’s World (San Francisco), July 19, 1944.
“Concussion Coincides with Movie Bomb Scene,” New York Times, July 19, 1944.
“Defense Begins in Mutiny Trial of 50,” Chicago Defender, October 7, 1944.
“Dorie Miller: First U.S. Hero of World War II,” Ebony, December 1969, 132–138.
“Foul in Navy Trial?” People’s World, October 27, 1944.
“Freddie Meeks, Pardoned in Port Chicago Mutiny,” (obituary) San Francisco Chronicle, June 21, 2003.
“From Peril to Pardon: Clinton exonerates L.A. man, 80, convicted of muti
ny after disaster,” Los Angeles Times, December 24, 1999.
Granger, Lester B. “Racial Democracy—The Navy Way” Common Ground, Winter, 1947, 61–66.
“Marshall Demands Navy Probe,” People’s World, October 19, 1944.
“Marshall Represents Mutineers,” Pittsburgh Courier, October 14, 1944.
Mays, Benjamin E. “The Negro and the Present War,” The Crisis, May 1942, 160–165.
“Murder Threat in Navy Trial,” People’s World, October 5, 1944.
“Mutiny?: The real story of how the Navy branded 50 fear-shocked sailors as mutineers.” Pamphlet published by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., March 1945.
“Mutiny of 50 Sailors Told Court-Martial,” Oakland Tribune, September 15, 1944.
“Mutiny Prosecutor Is Charged with Prejudice by Marshall,” California Eagle, October 19, 1944.
“NAACP Asks Navy Dept. Probe of Mutiny Charge,” Pittsburgh Courier, October 28, 1944.
“NAACP Will Expose Jim Crow Set-Up,” People’s World, October 17, 1944.
Nalty, Bernard, C. The Right to Fight: African American Marines in World War II. Booklet published by the U.S. Marine Corps History and Museums Division, 1995.
“Navy Board Begins Inquiry on Blast,” New York Times, July 21, 1944.
“Navy Refuses to Reopen Court-Martial Cases,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 22, 1990.
“Navy Trial Nears End,” People’s World, October 20, 1944.
“Negro Soldiers Convicted,” People’s World, October 25, 1944.
“No Conspiracy to Mutiny Says Navy Chaplain at Port Chicago,” California Eagle, Sept. 21, 1944.
“Paradox in Mutiny Trial: Somebody Had to Take the Rap—The Guilty One Wasn’t Even Tried,” People’s World, October 28, 1944.
“Port Chicago Heroes,” Pittsburgh Courier, August 5, 1944.
“Port Chicago ‘Mutiny’ Trial of 50 Becoming ‘Hot Potato’ for Navy,” Chicago Defender, October 21, 1944.
“Port Chicago Naval ‘Mutiny’ Trial On,” Oakland Tribune, September 14, 1944.
“Port Chicago, site of a World War II home front tragedy, is a classroom today,” Los Angeles Times, September 5, 2010.
Reddick, L. D. “The Negro in the United States Navy During World War II,” The Journal of Negro History, Vol. 32, No. 2 (April 1947), 201–219.
Reynolds, Grant, U.S. Army chaplain, “1944: “What the Negro Soldier Thinks about This War,” The Crisis, September 1944, 289–299.
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