![Item #8323 [Panoramic photo of] Co[mpany]. 401—H. H. Brooks—S R[?] (A) 7c Co. Comd’r. Apr. 6, 1944 U.S. Naval Training Station—Great Lakes, Ill[inois]. U S. Navy.](https://jamesarsenault.cdn.bibliopolis.com/pictures/8323_1.jpg?auto=webp&v=1692201069)
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[Panoramic photo of] Co[mpany]. 401—H. H. Brooks—S R[?] (A) 7c Co. Comd’r. Apr. 6, 1944 U.S. Naval Training Station—Great Lakes, Ill[inois].
[North Chicago], Illinois, 6 April 1944. Panoramic silverprint photograph, 7.25” x 20.5”, plus margins. CONDITION: Very good, strong tonality, a few minor abrasions and light stains along margins. A striking World War II-era photograph showing some 144 African American Navy servicemen of Company 401 at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station on Lake Michigan in Illinois. The company is shown here standing in front of a building bearing the number 1608, and in the front row is a flag featuring an anchor and reading “N.T.S. [Navy Training Station] Great Lakes.” Two drummers flank the company, and some of the men wear badges on their uniforms indicating rank. All of the men wear sailor’s caps, V-neck shirts, high socks, and collar bow ties. At the center of the photo is the hulking figure of a man who towers over everyone else. Opened in 1911, the Naval Training Station Great Lakes is located on over 1,600 acres and overlooks Lake Michigan. The Navy’s largest training facility, it is also home to the Navy’s only Boot Camp. Shortly after the Attack on Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, the Navy announced a $33 million expansion to increase its recruitment capacity from 10,000 to 45,000. When the U.S. entered World War II, the Navy’s Black sailors had been limited to serving as mess attendants for nearly twenty years. However, this soon changed due to the need for wartime manpower and the willingness of thousands of patriotic Black men to participate in the war. In mid-1942, the Navy started accepting African American enlistments for general service, and by the end of 1942 some 75,000 servicemen, Black and white, were at the Great Lakes base. During World War II, Great Lakes supplied over a million Bluejackets—just over a third of all personnel who served in the Navy. Black seamen were trained at a segregated base within Great Lakes called Camp Robert Smalls (named after a Civil War hero and former slave), and Navy service units were also segregated. Camp Smalls was seen at the time as an important step because it was the first actual training camp opportunity for African Americans. While many of those who trained at Camp Smalls served in non-combat roles, in 1944 a group of African Americans, nicknamed the Golden Thirteen, became the first to enter the regular naval officer candidate school. An evocative image reflecting an important development in the history of Black service in the U.S. Navy. REFERENCES: “African-Americans and the U.S. Navy -- World War II” at ibiblio online; “Great Lakes Naval Training Station” at the Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago online.
Item #8323
Price: $650.00
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