The Pennsylvania State University

The Graduate School

AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE NAVY BAND B-1:

THE FIRST ALL-BLACK NAVY BAND OF WORLD WAR II

A Dissertation in

Music Education

by

Gregory Abdul Drane

© 2020 Gregory Abdul Drane

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

May 2020 ii The dissertation of Gregory Abdul Drane was reviewed and approved* by the following:

O. Richard Bundy, Jr. Professor of Music Education, Emeritus Dissertation Advisor Chair of Committee

Robert Gardner Associate Professor of Music Education

David McBride Professor of African American Studies and African American History

Ann Clements Professor of Music Education

Linda Thornton Professor of Music Education Chair of the Graduate Program

iii ABSTRACT

This study investigates the service of the Navy Band B-1, the first all-black Navy band to serve during World War II. For many years it was believed that the black musicians of the Great Lakes Camp held the distinction as the first all-black Navy band to serve during World War II. However, prior to the opening of the Navy’s Negro School of Music at the Great Lakes Camps, the Navy Band B-1 had already completed its training and was in full service. This study documents the historical timeline of events associated with the formation of the Navy Band B-1, the recruitment of the bandsmen, their service in the United States Navy, and their valuable contributions to the country.

Surviving members of the Navy Band B-1 were interviewed to share their stories and reflections of their service during World War II. The Navy Band B-1 served as ambassadors for the Navy and representatives of racial change in the American military tradition.

iv TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF FIGURES ...... vii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... viii

Chapter 1. Introduction/Background ...... 1

Purpose and Organization of the study ...... 5

Chapter 2. Review of Related Literature ...... 7

History of American Military Bands ...... 7

United States Marine Band ...... 8

United States Army Band ...... 12

United States Navy Band...... 16

History of Women Military Bands ...... 20

Women's Army Corps (WAC) Bands ...... 22

Women Coast Guard (SPAR) Band ...... 24

Marine Corps Women's Reserve Band ...... 26

Racial Integration in Military Bands to 1942 ...... 27

Black Musicians in the Marine Corps ...... 28

Black Musicians in the Army ...... 29

Black Musicians in the Navy ...... 30

Summary ...... 38

Rationale ...... 40

Chapter 3. Methodology ...... 42

Restatement of Purpose ...... 42

v Why Oral History ...... 43

Design of the Study ...... 47

Data Collection ...... 49

Chapter 4. The Conceptualization, Formation and Recruitment of the Navy Band B-1 ...... 53

Recruitment and Formation of the Navy Band B-1 ...... 62

Summary ...... 65

Chapter 5. The Role of the Navy Band B-1 in the Racial Integration of the United States Navy During World War II ...... 67

Introduction ...... 67

The B-1's Pioneering Role ...... 69

Summary ...... 71

Chapter 6. History of the Navy Band B-1 and the Band Members Perspectives of Their Service in the United States Navy ...... 74

Introduction ...... 74

Participants ...... 77

The Recruitment and Formation of the Navy Band B-1 ...... 79

Service in Chapel Hill ...... 84

Racial Tensions in Chapel Hill ...... 89

Reassignment to Hawaii ...... 93

Racial Tensions in Hawaii ...... 99

Reflections of Surviving Navy Band B-1 Members ...... 103

Chapter 7. Discussion ...... 108

History of the Navy Band B-1 ...... 108

vi Conclusions ...... 113

Recommendations for Future Research ...... 122

References ...... 124

Appendix A Consent for Research ...... 128

Appendix B Recruitment Document/Script ...... 133

Appendix C IRB Approval Document ...... 134

Appendix D Interview Guide ...... 135

Appendix E United States Navy Preflight School Band 1944 ...... 137

Appendix F Simeon Holloway Letter to President George W. Bush ...... 153

Appendix G President George W. Bush Reply to Simeon Holloway...... 154

vii LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: All Negro Navy Band for Navy...... 83

Figure 2: U.S. Navy Band B-1 on the steps of their barracks...... 84

Figure 3: Navy Band B-1 in front of their barracks ...... 86

Figure 4: The B-1 playing for preflight school cadets...... 87

Figure 5: B-1's Cloudbusters pose for photo...... 88

Figure 6: The Cloudbusters performing for cadets and officers...... 89

Figure 7: Negro Navy Band Parades In Initial Appearance...... 90

Figure 8: Manana Meteors performing a concert...... 97

Figure 9: Honorary Certificate of Completion...... 106

Figure 10: 72nd Anniversary Celebration Banquet...... 115

viii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The completion of this dissertation would not have been possible without the support of many teachers. I extend my gratitude to the members of my dissertation committee, Drs. O. Richard Bundy, Jr., Ann Clements, Robert Gardner, and David

McBride for their support and guidance throughout the dissertation process. I am thankful for the influences of Drs. Darrin Thornton, Joanne Rutkowski, Anthony Leach and Linda

Thornton in contribution to my professional growth throughout my doctoral studies. I also wish to thank the Blue Band staff, my editor, and the brothers of Omega Psi Phi for their daily encouragement and support. Finally, I would like to thank my wife, Rasa

Drane, my son, Gregory “Deuce” Drane II, and my daughter, Issa Rae Drane for the sacrifices they have made on my behalf to achieve my personal and professional goals.

1

Chapter 1

Introduction/Background

Military bands were highly influential in the growth and progression of the

American wind band during the twentieth century.1 The influence of military bands on the school band movement can be observed through the continuing traditions within community bands, high school marching bands, and various other American bands.

Many of these bands reflect this influence through military-styled uniforms as well as their use of military band titles and marching style. Additionally, military bands have impacted instrumental music education by often exemplifying the highest level of musical performance in wind band literature.

In the years leading up to World War II, military bands took on a pioneering role in the integration of black Americans and women into the Armed Forces.2 Various branches of service began forming military bands comprised of black Americans and bands comprised of females. At least one of these military bands was comprised exclusively of black American women. These pioneering military bands became representative of social change in America.

1Scott Weiss, “A History of the United States Army Band (Pershing’s Own), 1945-2000,” (PhD diss., Urbana-Champagne: University of Illinois, 2004), 15. 2In this study, the term black Americans and blacks is used as opposed to African Americans. The term blacks connotes primarily American citizens of African and global black diaspora descendants who were born, lived, and survived for generations in the United States during slavery and post-slavery.

2

Prior to World War II, black Americans were only allowed to serve in the

Steward Branch as cooks and mess attendants. As the United States prepared to enter

World War II, a shortage of manpower in the military campaign abroad became an issue of national security. In an effort to address the manpower deficit, the government considered employing black Americans and women in jobs that were previously held exclusively by white men. Black Americans saw this as an opportunity to prove they were capable of much more than the menial jobs to which they were formerly relegated.

In 1942 the War Department announced an end to racial discrimination in the military. However, the U.S. Navy resisted the inclusion of black Americans for some time. The Commandant of the Marine Corps, Major General Thomas Holcomb, called the enlistment of blacks “absolutely tragic.” He added, “the Negro race has every opportunity now to satisfy its aspirations for combat in the Army, a very much larger organization than the Navy or Marine Corp, and their desire to enter the naval service is largely, I think, an effort to break into a club that doesn’t want them.”3

In April 1942, Secretary of the Navy James Knox announced that the Navy would begin enlisting black Americans for general service. This decision was a result of great pressure coming from the black American community and direct advocacy by President

Franklin Delano Roosevelt. President Roosevelt had expressed his desire for racial integration in the Navy during an official meeting with Secretary Knox by explaining,

“We’ve got some good Negro Bands…Why don’t we make a beginning by putting some

3Morris MacGregor, "World War II: The Navy." in Integration of the Armed Forces, 1940-1965 (Washington DC: Center of Military History, U.S. Army, 1981), 64.

3

of these bands aboard battleships? White and Negro men aboard ships will thereby learn to know and respect each other and then we can move on from there.”4 President

Roosevelt’s request eventually pushed the first steps of naval integration into action.

The U.S. Navy School of Music in Washington D.C., founded in 1935, was the designated music training camp for musicians. In 1942 the Navy School of Music remained closed to blacks. In preparation for the incoming black American recruits, the

Navy prepared Camp Robert Smalls5 at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center where the bandsmen would receive musical training. Between 1942 and 1945 more than 5,000 black Navy musicians received musical training at the segregated Great Lakes Training

Camps at the Negro Navy School of Music. The Negro Navy School Music opened in

August of 1942 and for decades the black musicians of Camp Robert Smalls were credited as forming the first all-black Navy band to serve in World War II in the United

States. However, forty-four black American men had already been sworn into service in

May of 1942 in Raleigh, North Carolina to form the Navy Band B-1.6

4Robert F. Cross, "Sailors in the Shadows," in Shepherds of the Sea: Destroyer Escorts in World War II (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2010) 165-166. 5Robert Smalls was born a slave in Beaufort, SC. He was pressed into the service of the Confederate Navy during the Civil War. Smalls was on the crew of the CSS Planter in 1861. In 1862, he commandeered the CSS Planter and delivered the ship to Union forces. The Union appointed him as the ship’s pilot in the Union Navy. Small’s actions influenced President Abraham Lincoln to employ blacks in the Union Army during the Civil War. After the Civil War, Smalls later became a delegate to the State Constitutional Convention in 1868 and served in the House of Representatives of South Carolina. He became a state senator and was eventually elected to Congress where he served from 1875-1887 (See Bergman, 167-168). 6Patrick M. Jones, “A History of the Armed Forces School of Music,” (PhD diss., University Park: The Pennsylvania State University, 2002), 112-114.

4

Records for these bands were not well kept during this time period, resulting in a deficiency of institutional memory concerning black Americans contributions to the

American military band tradition. By piecing together the history of these pioneering bands, the black American achievements and contributions in American society can be observed.

Gaps remain in the present story of people, places, and ideas associated with music teaching and learning. New interpretations of old subjects are needed, especially to discover the roles of ethnic and racial populations and women.7 It is time to use a broader definition of the history of music education, telling the story of the education of students of all age groups in music of all types, and in diverse community settings. Various methodologies should be used including oral history.8 The intent of this study is to close gaps within military music history in order to more accurately reflect the contributions of black Americans.

As historical research continues to expand in the field of music education, there has been greater interest in gaining the perspectives of underrepresented populations and discovering their contributions to American music history. In his comprehensive dissertation on the history of the Armed Forces School of Music, Jones writes, “the stories of females and African American musicians in American military bands have not

7George N. Heller and Bruce D. Wilson, “Historical Research,” in Handbook of Research on Music Teaching and Learning, ed. Richard Colwell (New York: Macmillan, Inc., 1992), 102. 8Ibid, 9.

5

been highlighted in much previously published literature.”9 These unhighlighted contributions of the past provide many opportunities for future research.

The intent of this research is to clearly document the significant role of Navy

Band B-1 members, the first black Navy servicemen to serve as instrumental musicians during World War II. Surviving Navy Band B-1 members are eager to share their stories chronicling their roles during the integration of the United States Navy. The need to complete this study is also impacted by the advanced age of the remaining Navy Band B-

1 members. The documentation of the contributions of the Navy Band B-1 and its members is essential to the continued interpretation of the history of American music military tradition.

Purpose and Organization of the Study

The purpose of this study is to document the history of the Navy Band B-1 which served as a model for racial integration in 1942. This study will investigate the history of the Navy Band B-1 through the conceptualization, organization, and service of the band.

This study acknowledges gaps in the history of the military band tradition. This research will provide an additional perspective of the service of black American bandsmen.

Furthermore, this study will examine the historical events surrounding the formation of the band and will explore the experiences of the Navy Band B-1 members who served in the United States Navy through interviews with the surviving Navy Band B-1 members.

9Jones, 55.

6

This study is organized into six chapters. Chapter One provides an introduction to the overall study. Chapter Two presents a review of the historical literature and early

American military band music tradition including the emergence of black American military bands. Chapter Three details the methodology used for the study. Chapters Four,

Five and Six present the results for the central research questions pursued in this study.

Chapter Seven presents the research findings. The research questions for this study are as follows:

1. What events and actions attributed to the formation of the Navy Band B-1?

2. What was the role of the Navy Band B-1in the racial integration of the U.S.

Navy?

3. What perspectives do the Navy Band B-1 members have of their service and its

impact on racial integration of the U.S. Navy?

7

Chapter 2

Review of Related Literature

A review of the historiography of American military music did not uncover an academic historical study centered on the Navy Band B-1, the first all-black band in the

United States Navy. However, a well-researched book focused on the Navy Band B-1 was located. Only a handful of studies have focused on military music in America. The majority of these studies focus exclusively on the most prominent bands of a particular military branch.

The historiographies reviewed are grouped into categories: History of American

Military Bands, Histories of Women Military Bands and black American Musicians in the Military.

History of American Military Bands

United State Military music is steeped in tradition that can be traced back to the formation of the country which was heavily influenced by European customs. The formation of pivotal bands throughout the branches of the United States military solidified military bands in the history of music in America. The oldest of the military bands considered by many as the most elite is the United States Marine Band. The

Marine Band has an exceptional past that has been researched and recorded in detail. The

8 histories of the Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, and Navy bands have been researched to a lesser degree than that of the United States Marine Corps Band.

United States Marine Band

The history of the United States Marine Band, whose purpose is “to provide music for the President of the United States, the Congress of the United States, and the

Commandant of the Marine Corps,”10 is unique among military bands. The first musicians in the United States Marine Corps were drummers and fifers authorized by the

Continental Congress on November 10, 1775.11 These musicians were called “Field

Musics” and were used to give military signals during battle and to control the pace at which the lines of Marines marched on the open battlefield by means of cadence.12 After the Revolutionary War, Congress disbanded all military organizations. In 1789, Congress reinstated the Marine Corps. Along with the reinstatement of the Marine Corps came the reestablishment of the Marine Corps band which consisted of a drum major, a fife major, and thirty-two drums and fifes.13

Prior to the American Civil War, the duties of the band were primarily to provide military music and to assist in official entertainment.14 When the government moved

10Kenneth Williams Carpenter, “A History of the United State Marine Band,” (PhD diss., Iowa City: The University of Iowa, 1970), 1. 11United States Marine Corps, The Band Manual (Washington, DC: Headquarters, United State Marine Corps, 1958), 1. 12Jones, History, 58. 13Amanda Young, “Music in the Military,” Music Educators Journal, no. 68 (December 1981): 31-35, https://doi.org/10.2307/3397716. 14Carpenter, History, 52.

9 from Philadelphia to the federal city of Washington in July of 1800, the Marine Band was relocated as well. The Marine Band performed its first public concert on August 21,

1800 in Washington D.C.15 Later, the band made its debut appearance in the President’s

House on New Year’s Day, 1801.16 It is believed that, as a result of the band’s regular appearances at the President’s House, the band was referred to as the “President’s Own.”

There is no record of what instruments were played by the band on this date

From 1798 to 1915, there was only one official Marine Corps Band. All other

Marine Corps musical units were referred to as “Field Musics.”17 In 1800, the Marine

Band still comprised only the officially recognized fife and drum corps, however it is possible that some players doubled on other instruments.18 Fifes were phased out of the

Marine Corps when it adopted the bugle in place of the fife in 1881.19 A music school was established at the Marine Barracks in Washington D.C. to train the fifers to play the bugle.20 By 1915, smaller Marine Corps bands began “branching off” from the original

United States Marine Corps Band. If a musician auditioned who was not qualified to be a bandsman, he would be sent to Field Musics School. Field musicians could play trumpet, bugle, or drums, but would not be a Marine Bandsman.21

“Field Musics” were eventually phased out and all other Marine Corps Bands, except for the President’s Own, were referred to as U.S. Marine Corps Field Bands.22 In

15Ibid., 28. 16Ibid. 17Jones, History, 58. 18Carpenter, History, 28. 19Jones, History, 65. 20Ibid, 59. 21Ibid. 22Ibid.

10 1942 when reserves were activated for World War II, the Marine Corps activated six bands and “increased the ranks of musicians in the Corps to 336.”23 In addition to the six activated reserve bands and the previously active duty bands, the Marine Corps constituted a band for women and a band for black Americans. The Marine Corp

Women’s Reserve Band operated from 1943-1947 and the all-black Montford Point Band was formed in 1943.24 Both bands were deactivated after the conclusion of World War II.

Marine Corps Musician Training and Recruitment

The musicians of the United States Marine Corps were primarily young boys ages

12-14 used as drummers and fifers. These boys were recruited and indentured for training until age 21, and then were enlisted for two three-year periods. Around 1805 the system was changed. Boys were still indentured until reaching 21 years of age but upon turning

21 years of age, they were given at least $500.00 to pay them for their indentured service.25 The drum major conducted the training of these indentured boys for the drummers, and the fife major for the fifers.26

Fifes were eventually phased out once the Marine Corps began to adopt the bugle in 1881. A music school was established at the Marine Barracks in Washington DC to train fifers to play the bugle.27 By 1915, the “Apprentice Music, Drum and Bugle School”

23Thomas G Mueller, Formal Musical Training (Little Creek NAB VA: Marine Element, Armed Forces School of Music, n.d.), Trainee Guide: Information Sheet 9-22- 3., 2. 24Jones, History, 63. 25Ibid, 65. 26Carpenter, History, 52. 27Jones, History, 64.

11 which had been operating at the Washington Navy Yard was transferred to Parris Island,

South Carolina. By this time, the comprehensive curriculum for apprentice musicians, who were 15 years and older, was a six to seven-month school that included instruction in

“handling the drum and bugle, reading music, and schooling in reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic, history, and geography.28 In 1934 the Marine Corps instituted an advanced school for field musicians at Marine Barracks in Washington, D.C. During World War II, the existing Marine Corps bands trained bandsmen. New bands were created consisting of 19 members for defense battalions and 30 members for regiments. Bands were given numerical designations as they were created.29 At the conclusion of World War II, the

Marine Corps turned over the musician training responsibilities to the Navy School of

Music in Washington D.C. By 1946, the Marine Corps would annually send students to the Navy School of Music.30 The Marine Corps has been training musicians at the Navy

School of Music ever since.

Today, the Marine Corps music program is organized into three different components: The President’s Own United States Marine Band, Washington, D.C.; the

U.S. Marine Drum and Bugle Corps; and twelve U.S. Marine Corps Field Bands.31 Since

1946, the Marines have partnered with the Navy School of Music for musician training.

In 1978, the Marine Corps Drum and Bugle Corps School was incorporated into the Navy

School of Music,32 sending all Marine musicians to the school for musical training. The

28Ibid, 66. 29Ibid. 30Joseph Monlina McCuen, “A History of Bands in the United States Navy,” (master’s thesis, College Park: The University of Maryland, 1967), 64. 31Jones, History. 60. 32Ibid, 67.

12 Marine Corps Bands’ mission has evolved over the years but maintains its primary role, to furnish appropriate music for military formations, concerts, entertainment, street parades and social functions.

United States Army Band

The history of musicians in the Army can be traced to the formation of militia.

Musicians have been a part of the Army since its inception. There are records of drummers belonging to the Virginia militia in 1633.33 Benjamin Franklin, who founded the “Associators” Pennsylvania Militia in 1747, is reported to have marched with his battery in 1756 to the accompaniment of musicians.34

The primary mission of the Army band is to promote and maintain the morale and esprit de corps of troops through participation in military formations, formal concerts, and recreational activities.35 Within the Continental Army there were two types of musical groups, the company of musicians or “Field Music,” and the “Bands of

Musick.”36 The field music, consisting of fifes and drums for the infantry and trumpets and bugles for the cavalry, were used to march the soldiers and to give directions.37 The field musicians were not trained musicians but were usually trained after entering the

33Raoul Francois Camus, “The Military Band in the United States Prior to 1834” (PhD diss., New York City: New York University, 1969), 144. 34Raul Francois Camus, “A Re-Evaluation of the American Band Tradition,” Journal of Band Research VII, no. 1 (1970), 5. 35Dana Harris, “The Organizational and Unit History of the 399th Army Band,” (master’s thesis, Kirksville: Northeast Missouri State University, 1977), 1. 36Camus, Military, 205. 37Jones, History, 27.

13 Army. Field musicians gave directions to the soldiers. The “Bands of Musick,” however, were used to entertain the officers and were similar in nature to the Harmoniemusick38 employed by European Armies and royalty.39 These bands were professional musicians who were paid for by the officers of the regiment for their private use. These bands performed for social events and large ceremonies, as opposed to the functional nature of the field music.

Following the American Revolution and throughout the Nineteenth Century, musicians in the Army continued in the tradition established during the war with field musicians and Bands of Musick.40 The first permanent Army Band to be formed was the

United State Military Academy Band with the relocation of a band to West Point, New

York in 1813.41 While the Civil War produced an increase in the number of bands, the

Army Bands also grew in instrumentation throughout the Nineteenth and early Twentieth

Century. It was not until 1922 that the Army established a premier band in Washington

D.C., through the authorization of General John J. Pershing.42 This band would earn the moniker of “Pershing’s Own” in recognition of the influence of General Pershing to establish the band.

38Camus defines Harmoniemusick as a collection of instruments that generally consists of pairs of oboes, clarinets, horns and bassoons, although this instrumentation can vary. Jones additionally notes Harmoniemusick to include octets by composers such as Mozart and Beethoven, and transcriptions of operatic, orchestral, and popular music of the day. 39Jones, History, 11. 40Camus, Military, 415-447. 41Ibid, 449. 42David Clement McCormick, “A History of the United States Army Band to 1946,” (PhD diss., Iowa City: The University of Iowa, 1970), 211.

14 The Army currently maintains over 100 bands divided into three components:

Active Army, Army Reserve, and Army National Guard. There are three types of bands in the active Army: Division/Army (Direct Support), Major Command (General Support) and Premier.43 These Army bands continue to serve by providing entertainment and esprit de corps through concerts, ceremonies and parades.

Army Musician Training and Recruitment

The training of musicians in the Continental Army was based on the British system of apprenticeship.44 In the British Army, the drum and fife majors were responsible for teaching apprentice boys.45 By the Nineteenth Century, the practice of the drum and fife majors teaching the apprentices developed into the formation of music schools as the need for better trained musicians grew in importance. The Army operated the School of Practice for U.S.A. Field Musicians, at Fort Columbus, Governor’s Island,

New York during the first half of the Nineteenth Century.46 This school trained boys as regular Army field musicians.47 Volunteer musicians did not receive instruction at the school. There is no specific date for when the school closed, however it is suggested that instruction there ended shortly after the Civil War.48

43Jones, History, 32. 44Ibid, 47. 45Camus, Military, 182. 46Jones, History, 49. 47Camus, Military, 437. 48Jones, History, 49

15 From 1911-1921, the Army was training musicians at the Army Music Training

School at Fort Jay, Governor’s Island, New York.49 This school was operated in conjunction with the Institute of Musical Art in New York City.50 The Army school consisted of a two-year course called the Army Bandmaster School.51 In 1921, the Army severed its ties with the Institute of Musical Art in New York and relocated the Army

Music School to Washington Barracks, Washington D.C. in order to use it as a way to build the Army Band. In 1922, the Army separated the school and the Army Band. As a result, the school personnel were no longer used as the core of the Army Band. As the number of graduates from the school grew the decision was made to have individual bandleaders train their own recruits. The school was closed in March 1928.52

The military buildup to World War II created the necessity for more Army bandleaders. The Army announced that an Army Music School would be created in conjunction with The Army Band and that the leader of The Army Band would be the school’s commandant.53 The band was moved to the Army War College then moved to

Fort Myer, Virginia and called “Advanced Detachment of The Army Band.”54 It was again determined that operating a music school as a part of a major band was not optimal and the school was separated from The Army Band.55 The school was closed in 1944.

Two Band Training Units (BTU) were established on 24 July 1943. One was at Camp

49McCormick, History, 25-37. 50Jones, History, 50. 51McCormick, History, 38-39 52Jones, History, 55. 53McCormick, History, 515-516. 54Ibid., 528. 55Jones, History, 56.

16

Lee, VA and the other one was at Camp Crowder, MO.56 These units accepted qualified musicians and provided instruction on how to be Army bandsmen. The BTU at Camp

Crowder, MO was discontinued in 1944 and the BTU at Camp Lee was eventually discontinued as well.57 The Army reestablished 8-week Band Training Units at Fort Ord,

Fort Knox, Fort Jackson, Fort Leonard and Fort Dix that operated from 1951-1956, in addition to sending students to the new course established for Army musicians at the

Naval School of Music.58

The U.S. Army and the U.S. Navy agreed in 1950 to consolidate military musician training at the U.S. Naval School of Music, Anacostia Naval Station,

Washington D.C. The first Army students arrived in January of 1951 and founded the

Army Element.59 The Army began sending its Bandmasters to the school as well. Army musicians have been trained there ever since.60

United States Navy Band

The musical history and tradition of the Navy can be traced back to songs sung by sailors as they worked on the ships. These tunes were designed to help pass the time and to aid in maintaining a rhythmic pulse for working together.61 In this regard, the music served the same purpose as the field music of the Army and Marine Corps. The history of

56Ibid. 57Ibid. 58Jones, History, 56 59Ibid. 60McCuen, History, 64. 61Jimmie Wayne Dyess, “A History of the United States Navy Band, Washington, D.C. (1918-1980),” (EdD diss., Houston: University of Houston, 1988), 10.

17 the Navy Band is difficult to uncover prior to 1825 as all sailors were considered to be

“seaman.” As a result of the seaman designation, any musician responsibilities would have been secondary responsibilities. The Navy’s use of musicians was different from that of the ground forces such as the Army and Marines. The Navy was not concerned with battlefield movements and marching troop formations outside of specific ceremonies. As a result, Navy musicians were more focused on entertaining troops on ships and shores and providing appropriate ceremonial music.

The first records of Naval musicians, from 1825-1838, are of individuals and never identify any organized bands.62 The first indication of an actual band appeared in an 1838 Navy Pay Table.63 During the Nineteenth Century the navy bands grew on land and sea. The Navy Department authorized music equipment aboard ships. In 1864, a

Navy Department authorization made allowances for bands ranging in size from 6 to 20 musicians.64 The size of the ship influenced the size of the band, with larger ships housing larger bands. Throughout the Nineteenth century, one of the major issues faced by the Navy was that many Navy musicians, and sometimes entire bands, were made up of immigrants seeking passage to the United States. Consequently, once they arrived to the United States, they would leave the Navy.65 This created a difficult situation for establishing bands with any long-term consistency.66

62Ibid., 10-13. 63Jones, History, 69. 64McCuen, History, 9. 65Jones, History, 69. 66McCuen, History, 3-5.

18 As the need for naval musicians continued to grow in the Twentieth century, the

Navy established musician schools at various Naval Training Stations such as Newport,

Rhode Island; Norfolk, Virginia; and San Diego, California.67 Although there were multiple schools training musicians, there was no standard music-training program for these schools.

As the demand for training naval musicians grew with the arrival of World War I, the commissioning of John Philip Sousa as a Lieutenant in the Naval Reserve assisted in the Navy’s efforts. Although Sousa is usually associated with the Marine Band during his leadership years of 1880-1892, his connection to the Marine Band was much earlier as

Sousa’s father played trombone in the band in 1850. Then, at the age of thirteen, John

Philip Sousa joined the Marine Band as an apprentice.68 After his discharge as an apprentice, Sousa re-enlisted in the Marine Band as a musician in 1872 69 and served until

1875. Sousa returned as the Marine Band conductor only five years later. His tenure spanned twelve years and ended with his resignation in July of 1892. In August of the

1892, Sousa embarked on the organization of his own professional band. Sousa later return to military service in 1917 as a Naval Officer and developed a band training center at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station. The Great Lakes Naval Training Station began sending complete bands to ships or stations as needed. John Philip Sousa was the first musician to be a commissioned officer in the history of the U.S. Navy.70

67Jones, History, 71. 68Carpenter, History, 78. 69Ibid. 70Paul E. Bierly, John Philip Sousa: American Phenomenon (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1973), 77-78.

19 In Washington, D.C., the predecessor of the United States Navy Band was operating out of the Navy Yard.71 On March 4, 1925, President Calvin Coolidge signed a special act of the 68th Congress recognizing the Navy Yard Band as the United States

Navy Band and the premier musical representative of the United States Navy.72

Navy Musician Training and Recruitment

Navy Bands were self-contained entities aboard various ships as opposed to Army and Marine Corps band that stayed in one location, or with a single unit. As a result, Unit

Bands were an exclusive concept to the Navy. The development of the Unit Band

Concept of the U.S. Navy School of Music beginning in 1935 brought stability and a coordinated, organized, and sustained band program to the Navy for the first time in its history.73 The Unit Bands were numbered consecutively as they left the school.

Unit Bands were formed from students attending the Navy School of Music.

Bandmasters were selected from experienced Navy musicians who attended a bandmaster course at the Navy School of Music.74 Once the Unit Band was formed at the school, they would begin rehearsing together under their bandmaster. Upon graduation, the band would be transferred to either ship or shore duty.75 Unit Bands were often sent on short tours of duty before they graduated from the school and then returned to complete their instruction. It is difficult to determine how long the unit band would remain at the school

71Dyess, History, 19. 72Ibid., 1. 73Jones, History, 72. 74Ibid., 73. 75Ibid.

20 prior to being assigned to duty. These bands would stay together for the remainder of their first enlistment. Once a band’s enlistment was completed, the musicians would be discharged, and another band would be sent from the school to replace them.

At some point the Navy stopped issuing original numerical designations to the

Unit Bands and began recycling the Unit Band numbers.76 Eventually, Unit Bands were eliminated with the restructuring of the Navy music program in the 1970s.77 As a result,

Navy bands became permanently stationed and musicians were sent from the school as replacements. The U.S. Navy School of Music quickly gained a positive reputation for training excellent musicians within the U. S. Armed Forces.

History of Women’s Military Bands

Motivated by the attack on Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, the United States government declared war on Japan signaling the United States’ official entry into World

War II on December 8, 1941. In an attempt to motivate women to enter the workforce as many American men served in the military abroad, media propaganda was used to encourage women to serve the war effort at home. Iconic images, such as Rosie the

Riveter, were used to bolster confidence and convey the message, “You Can Do It.”78

Additionally, the “Free a Man to Fight” campaign, which displayed women in designer

76Ibid., 74. 77Ibid. 78Jill M. Sullivan, “A History of the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve Band,” Journal of Band Research, 42, no. 1 (Fall 2006): 3.

21 uniforms, contributed to approximately 400,000 women answering the call to service in the Army, Navy, Coast Guard, and Marines during World War II.79

In May of 1942, with the support of President Roosevelt and the U.S. Congress, legislation was passed in order to create women’s military reserve units. The Women’s

Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) became the first branch to enlist women in May of 1942.

The WAAC was later renamed the Women’s Army Corps (WAC). This law inspired other branches to follow with their own women reserve units: the Navy’s WAVES

(Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service), July 30, 1942; and the Coast

Guard’s SPARS (Semper Paratus—Always Ready), November 23, 1942. Interestingly, although legislation passed amending the United States Naval Reserve Act of 1938 to form a Marine Corps Women’s Reserve (WCWR), the men of the Marines did not create a women’s reserve unit until February 13, 1943 when women were at last admitted into the Marine Corps.80

Women began enlisting and training for jobs throughout the military, including the roles of musicians. As a result, several all-women ensembles were formed. These included seven full-time bands, one recreational concert band, and several volunteer drum and bugle corps that were in existence from 1942-1946.81 The existence of women’s military bands in the United States during World War II is not well known in the instrumental music community. This is the case not only in music history in general, but also within the histories of the military branches in which the women’s bands served.

79Ibid., 4. 80Jill M. Sullivan, “Women’s Military Band in a Segregated Army: The 400th and 404th WAC Bands,” Journal of Band Research 41, no. 2 (2006): 1. 81Ibid., 2.

22 Most research does not include women’s bands, as there is little extant research on the history of U.S. military bands, in general. There are a handful of dissertations and theses

(Carpenter, 1970, Dyess, 1988, Harris, 1977; McCormick 1970; Weiss, 2004) on military bands and, of these, four focused on the history of the most prestigious bands located in

Washington, D.C.

Women’s Army Corps (WAC) Bands

The creation of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) grew out the realization that more men would be needed for the United States to fight World War II on two fronts, Europe and the Pacific. In May 1942, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed legislation that established the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC). Its purpose was to bring the talents and abilities of women into the Army for the war effort.82

Using women in the armed forces became a military strategy to “free a man to fight,” and this popular slogan became propaganda to entice women into military service.83 The

WAAC was viewed as a volunteer support unit and an unofficial component of the Army.

By the end of the war, the WAAC included over 137,000 women, with a majority of white women and the largest minority group being black American women. The first

WAAC training center was opened at Fort Des Moines, Iowa, on 20 July 1942.84 The

WAAC was reorganized into the Army as the Women’s Army Corps (WAC). The Fort

82Mattie E. Treadwell, The Women’s Army Corps (Washington, DC: Center of Military History, United States Army, 1954), 45. 83Sullivan, WAC Bands, 4. 84Treadwell, Women’s, 45.

23 Des Moines training center would eventually house two all-women bands: WAC Band

#1, an all-white women’s band later renamed the 400th Army Service Forces (ASF) WAC

Band and WAC Band #2, an all-black women’s band later renamed the 404th ASF WAC

Band.85

The 400th was the first women’s military band in the United States and the 404th was the first and only black women’s band ever to serve in the United States military.86

The formation of the two bands resulted from the Army’s “separate but equal” racial practices, as there were both white and black troops stationed at Fort Des Moines. The

Army required strict racial separation of its troops and it was expected that WAC would adhere to the same practice. As a result, these enlisted women were housed separately and marched separately. The formation of one all-women band on a base was a rarity but having two all-women bands, the 400th (white) and 404th (black), was a phenomenon observed only once in the history of the U.S. military. The WAC band members’ service freed men to fight, bolstered morale, and raised millions of dollars for the war. The women of the 404th band served as role models for black American WAC women.

The Army was initially the only service branch to actively recruit black

Americans, both male and female. It was only after much effort and strong protest that the Navy and Coast Guard accepted black American women. Seventy-Two black women joined the Navy’s WAVES and four black women joined the Coast Guard’s SPARS. The

85Sullivan, WAC Bands, 5. 86Ibid., 1.

24 Marine Corps Women’s Reserve (MCWR) remained an all-white organization, although

African American women were not specifically barred.87

The WAC bands traveled throughout the United States fulfilling their duties as military bands during wartime. After the Japanese surrender in 1945, the 400th began its demobilization and the Army reassigned the band to Fort Mason, California, to play for ships returning from the Pacific warfront. The 404th received its separation notice and on

December 19, 1945, the 404th band was deactivated.

Women’s Coast Guard SPAR Band

In wartime, the Coast Guard serves under the Navy. However, the Coast Guard launched its own recruitment campaign, “Release a Man for Sea,” which resulted in more than 7,000 women enlisting to receive military training in the Coast Guard.88 In May of

1943, a SPAR (referencing the Coast Guard motto: Semper Paratus) enlistee-training center was created at the Biltmore Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida, for Coast Guard women to receive basic military training. These women were technically considered “reservists called into active duty on a temporary basis.” The decision to form a band for the Palm

Beach training center happened soon after its opening in May, 1943.

The SPAR band began rehearsing in July 1943 with eight women in the band. By

September 1943, the SPAR Band had grown to fifteen members, the band played its first

87Joanna Ross Hershey and Jill M. Sullivan, “A History of the United States Coast Guard SPAR Band,” Journal of Historical Research in Music Education 30, no. 2, (2009): 125. 88Ibid., 126.

25 concert, and performed a regimental review.89 The SPAR Band quickly grew to thirty- five members.

In addition to the main duties of the band which included playing concerts for

Coast Guard personnel, marching in parades, and rehearsing, band members were each required to complete an additional duty two hours each day.90 These jobs included those of gate guard, duty driver, phone operator, music librarian, instrument repairperson, maintenance crew, newspaper editor, and positions within the recreation department.

Additionally, as the band had no support staff, band members did all of the administrative work required to run the unit. To fulfill requests for SPAR Band performances the band was often split into several smaller ensembles.

Early in 1945, as recruitment and basic training wound down and the Palm Beach facility closed, the SPAR band was assigned to Washington, D.C. When the war ended, the ensemble was disbanded. By late summer of 1946, the SPAR program ended, and the

Coast Guard was once again all-male. One of the most notable contributions of the

SPAR Band to the war effort can be demonstrated by their weekly performances on live radio, called SPARs on Parade.91 Through these broadcasts, the band was able to provide a positive outlook on the war, the military, and the contributions of women to a broad audience.

89Hershey and Sullivan, SPAR Band, 128. 90Ibid., 134. 91Ibid., 135.

26 Marine Corps Women’s Reserve Band

The idea for the formation of an all-women Marine Corps band came from the top

Marine Corps personnel in Washington, D.C. The intent was to create “the most outstanding female band of the country.”92 The formation of the Marine Corps Women’s

Reserve Band (MCWRB) occurred soon after the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve was created. The process for gaining membership into this band was different than other women’s military bands. In the previously formed women’s bands, individuals were allowed to join if they claimed to play musical instruments. In contrast, the MCWRB members were auditioned either before enlisting or after enlistment but before boot camp, and during boot camp. Some women who sent in résumés and letters of recommendation never had to audition due to their strong musical backgrounds.93

During the formation of the band, Captain William F. Santelmann of the Marine

Band, President’s Own, ordered three principal musicians to accompany him to Camp

Lejeune to train the women musicians in military maneuvers and Marine Band protocol.

Despite the Marine Corps’ intentions to recruit highly skilled musicians for the women’s reserve band, they ended with mostly amateurs.94 Upon Captain Santelmann’s arrival to

Camp Lejeune, there were only fifteen women assigned to the band. Within ten weeks, the band grew to thirty-seven members. Through training and coaching from their male counterparts, the MCWR Band successfully fulfilled their duties as a military band.

92Jill M. Sullivan, “A History of the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve Band,” Journal of Band Research 42, no.1 (Fall 2006): 5. 93Ibid., 9. 94Jill M. Sullivan, “A History of the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve Band,” Journal of Band Research 42, no.1 (Fall 2006): 25.

27 During their twenty-five-month tenure, MCWRB performed over 172 concerts,

156 parades, 80 dances, 13 stage shows, 11 broadcasts, and one telecast.95 The band even added vocal performances to their repertoire.96 At the end of the war, all women in the band received awards and citations for their service to the country.97 The MCWRB performed its last official performance on November 29, 1945.98 The Marine Corps

Women’s Reserve Band existed from November 15, 1943 until December 3, 1945. On

December 3, 1945, the band members were discharged from the MCWR and the band was officially deactivated.99

Racial Integration in Military Bands to 1942

The story of black musicians in military bands in the United States is a subject that has received little attention in American history. The fragmented documentation of the existence of black American military bands does not fully represent the many accomplishments of these servicemen. Their service to their country through their musicianship and their role in breaking down racial barriers in the United States military and beyond is largely unrecognized. Records for these bands were not well kept, which has resulted in a deficiency of institutional memory concerning the multitude of black

American contributions to the American military band tradition. By piecing together the

95Ibid., 20-21. 96Ibid., 15. 97Ibid., 28. 98Ibid., 20. 99Ibid.

28 significant history of these pioneering bandsmen, we can uncover some of their monumental contributions and achievements to American society.

Instances of blacks serving in the American military can be traced back through the Revolutionary War, although the military was segregated until 1948 when President

Harry S Truman integrated the armed forces with Executive Order 9981. Until that point, black Americans served as musicians primarily in racially segregated bands that belonged to black American units.100 The Army and Navy both had black musicians from their founding. However, there were no record found of black bands in the Navy until World

War I. Additionally, there were no records found of black American musicians in the

Marine Corp until World War II.101

Black Musicians in the Marine Corps

While it is generally accepted that black Americans served in the United States

Marine Corps during the American Revolution, it is not known if any of them were musicians. There were no records found of black Americans in the Marine Corps at all between the American Revolution and World War II.102 The first records located of black

Americans to enlist in the Marine Corps occurred in 1942. The Marine Corps formed the

Montford Point Band, in 1943, an all-black band to support the needs of the black

Marines training there.103 Montford Point was a section of the Marine Corps training

100Jones, History, 25. 101Ibid., 26. 102Ibid., 63. 103Ibid., 64.

29 facility at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. It is presumed that this band was deactivated at the conclusion of World War II.

Black Musicians in the Army

Black soldiers in the U.S. Army were forbidden to carry arms during the

American Revolution however they were still required to serve in the Army. As a result, black Americans often served as field musicians in the Army. In the 1900’s there were four “Negro Regiments” in the Army. Each of these regiments had a band of black musicians. These bands were led by white band masters. President Theodore Roosevelt issued a special order that the four Negro regiments in the U.S. Army were to have black bandmasters: Wade Hammond (9th Calvary), William Polk (24th Infantry), James A.

Thomas (10th Calvary), and Elbert Williams (25th Infantry).104

The United States participation in World War I resulted in black Army bands supporting American troops in Europe. Black Army bands introduced jazz to France and

Germany as they also entertained civilians throughout their service in Europe. James

Timothy Brymm, Bandmaster of the 350th Field Artillery Regiment Band, is credited with popularizing jazz in France during the war.105 One of the most notable black

American Army bandmasters of World War I was James Reese Europe of the U.S. 15th

Infantry, New York National Guard.106 The 15th Infantry was redesignated to the 369th

104Ibid., 43. 105Eileen Southern, Biographical Dictionary of Afro-American and African Musicians (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1982), 54. 106Ibid., 128-129.

30 Infantry and was known by the moniker, the “Hell Fighters.” James Europe and the Hell

Fighters toured Europe throughout World War I. Additional black American Army bandmasters of World War I included Will Yodery (807th Regiment Band), Alfred Jack

Thomas (10th Calvary and 368th Infantry “Buffaloes”), and George Dulf (307th Infantry

“Black Devils” Band).107 Black American musicians served in the segregated Army until the integration of the military in 1948. Once the military was integrated, the all-black units were deactivated.

Black Musicians in the Navy

Since the creation of the U.S. Navy, blacks have served as musicians. There are only a few records that indicate their service in the Eighteenth century and Nineteenth century. Records do identify Nimrod Perkins, a drummer who served on the USS

DILIGENCE and the USS ACCOMAC from 1777 through the end of the Revolutionary

War.108 And Cyrus Tiffany served as a fifer on the USS ALLIANCE during the

American Revolution in addition to the War of 1812.109 There are no records of black naval musicians serving in the Nineteenth century after the War of 1812.110

107Ibid., 116. 108Ibid., 303. 109Ibid. 110Jones, History, 105.

31 One of the first significant recorded events towards inclusion of black musicians in modern military naval bands occurred in 1917 when Alton Augustus Adams was recruited to be the bandmaster for the United States Navy.111 Alton Augustus Adams was a black native of Saint Thomas. He was an accomplished band leader in the Danish West

Indies, which became the U. S. Virgin Islands. In March 1917, the United States officially took over the Virgin Islands, having purchased them from Denmark. The Virgin

Islands were then placed under the administration of the Navy. Adams and his entire band, the Juvenile Band, were enlisted into the Navy. Adams was appointed to the rank of Chief Musician as their bandmaster. He served as a Navy bandmaster from 1917-1934, during which time he also organized three Navy bands in the Virgin Islands and performed a concert tour of the Eastern United States.112 After retiring, Adams returned to the Navy during World War II and formed the first racially integrated band in 1942113 from members of his previous band, white musicians who were members at Guantanamo

Bay, Cuba, and four black graduates of The Navy Negro School of Music at Great

Lakes.114 The Navy would not appoint a black bandmaster in the continental United

States until 1942 when the U.S. officially entered World War II.

As racial discrimination against blacks in America intensified after World War I, so did discrimination in the military. Prior to 1942, black Americans were only allowed to serve in the United States Navy as mess attendants and stewards. In April 1942,

111Samuel Floyd, "Alton Augustus Adams: The First Black Bandmaster in the U.S. Navy," The Black Perspective in Music 5, no. 2 (Autumn, 1977): 173-187, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1214078 112Ibid. 113Jones, History, 110. 114Floyd, Alton, 179-182.

32 Secretary of the Navy James Knox announced that the Navy would begin enlisting blacks for general service. This decision stemmed from great pressure coming from the black

American community and with support from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

President Roosevelt had expressed his desire for integration in the Navy during an official meeting with Secretary Knox by proposing, “We’ve got some good Negro Bands in the Navy. Why don’t we make a beginning by putting some of these bands aboard battleships? White and Negro men aboard ships will thereby learn to know and respect each other and then we can move on from there.”115 President Roosevelt’s request eventually pushed the first steps of naval integration into action.

The announcement for admittance of black Americans into full U.S. Navy service in 1942 was not the end of racism and discrimination in the military. The Commandant of the Marine Corps at the time, Major General Thomas Holcomb, called the enlistment of black Americans “absolutely tragic.” He added, “the Negro race has every opportunity now to satisfy its aspirations for combat in the Army, a very much larger organization than the Navy or Marine Corp, and their desire to enter the naval service is largely, I think, an effort to break into a club that doesn’t want them.”116 The Navy often referred to the practice of discrimination in America as its reason for maintaining the discrimination of black Americans within the military, making announcements such as, “The Navy insists even more strongly that it cannot take a chance on a social experiment…the Navy feels that it cannot justly be expected to be so far ahead of the nation’s general habits in

115Cross, Sailors, 165-166. 116MacGregor, World War II, 64.

33 racial matters as the advocates of full integration.”117 Although the Navy eventually moved away from this position, electing to join the Navy was a difficult decision for many black Americans because the Navy had gained a negative reputation in its approach, or lack thereof, toward racial integration.

As the Navy first began seeking open enlistment, black Americans were volunteering for service in the Army over the Navy at a ratio of 10 to 1.118 The War

Department’s announcement to end racial discrimination was followed by a relatively slow implementation. Incongruously, a War Department policy stated, “White men needed a score of 15 on the Army Intelligence test, while black Americans were required to score 39 for admittance into the service.”119 The discriminatory practice of setting higher standards for black Americans in all branches of service ironically contributed to the recruitment and acceptance of highly educated and accomplished musicians for the all-black Navy bands.

Negro Navy School of Music

In many cases, the discrimination deepened once these men began their service.

Once admitted, black Americans had to serve in segregated schools and camps. The

United States Navy School of Music, created to train naval musicians, remained closed to

117 Gerald Astor, The Right to Fight: A History of African Americans in the Military, (Novato: Presidio Press, 1998), 160. 118MacGregor, World War II, 68. 119Samuel Floyd, "Oral History: The Great Lakes Experience," The Black Perspective in Music 11, no. 1 (Spring, 1983): 41-61, https://www.jstor.org/stable/1215142

34 black Americans until 1945. In preparation for the incoming black American recruits, the

Navy prepared Camp Robert Smalls at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center, where the black bandsmen would receive training. Lieutenant Commander Daniel Armstrong, a white man and son of the founder of Hampton University, was in charge of the program for recruits at Camp Smalls. Under Armstrong’s energetic leadership, black recruits received training that was in some respects superior to that afforded to whites.120 From

1942 through 1945, black naval bandsmen received training at the Negro Navy School of

Music at Camp Robert Smalls.

Eventually, two other camps, Camp Lawrence and Camp Moffett, were established at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center to house black musician trainees.

Each camp had an attached forty-five-piece resident band. Camp Robert Smalls’ band was Ship’s Company Band “A,” Camp Lawrence had Ship’s Company Band “B,” and

Camp Moffett had Ship’s Company Band “C.”121 The Ship’s Company Band “A” was considered the best at the Great Lakes Training Center Camps. More than 5,000 black

American musicians were trained at the Great Lakes Naval Camps as bandsmen and then dispatched into service across the country.122 In 1945, musicians from the Great Lakes were sent to the U.S. Navy School of Music. They were the first black Americans to attend the school.123 They slept separately from the white students, but they attended integrated classes. They were enrolled but were never officially graduated from the

120MacGregor, World War II, 67. 121Samuel Floyd, "The Great Lakes Experience: 1942-1945," The Black Perspective in Music 3, no. 1 (Spring, 1975): 17-24, http://www.jstor.org/stable1214375 122Floyd, Oral History, 41. 123Floyd, Great Lakes, 3-4.

35 school.124 This concentration of professional, educated black Americans at the Great

Lakes Training Center Camps produced one of the most influential musical and educational experiences for black American bandsmen.

The Navy Band B-1

For many years, records would reflect that beginning in August 1942 Camp

Robert Smalls of the Great Lakes Camps housed the first all-black Navy band in the

United States. However, a group of recruited black musicians had already been enlisted and reported for training on 27 May 1942 at Raleigh, North Carolina.125 This group was the Navy Band B-1 (B-1).126 The Navy was preparing to create preflight schools on university campuses. Governor Broughton of North Carolina had political ties with

President Roosevelt and wanted the preflight school to be placed at the University of

North Carolina. It is possible that President Roosevelt may have worked outside of Navy

Secretary Knox’s knowledge to station an all-black band in North Carolina at the new preflight school. This may explain why the B-1 was not in the original record books.

124Jones, History, 115. 125Ibid., 113. 126There is some discrepancy as to the official name of the band. Some have called it Unit Band #1 while some documents refer to the group as Navy Band B-1. Jones provides a thoughtful rationale that there was an all-white band designated officially as Unit Band #1 that graduated from the U.S. Navy School of Music in 1936, therefore the Navy would not assign the same name to this group. As a result, it is likely that the official name of the group is the Navy Band B-1. However, the surviving members and family refer to the group as the Navy B-1 Band. Within this study the band will be referred to as B-1.

36 The goal in founding B-1 was to create a band from the best black American musicians available in North Carolina. Because the state housed numerous black educational institutions with strong music programs, North Carolina appeared to be an ideal place to initiate the integration agenda. Numerous B-1 members had college degrees, and most of the remainder had some college experience. Twenty-five had attended the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College in Greensboro, four had attended North Carolina College in Durham, three attended Hampton Institute in

Virginia, and one each attended Johnson C. Smith University (Charlotte, NC), Millikin

University (Decatur, IL), and South Carolina State (Orangeburg, SC).127

The newly formed B-1 reported for training in Norfolk, Virginia as an intact unit.

The recruitment and training of an intact unit was not typical procedure for the Navy prior to that time. After completing training, the band reported to Chapel Hill on 31 July

1942 and began service at the Navy’s preflight school on the campus of the University of

North Carolina in Chapel Hill. The B-1 was in full service just 7 months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.128 The B-1 performed its duties in Chapel Hill and was eventually transferred to the U.S. Naval Barracks, Manana Oakee, Hawaii. The band served there from 24 May 1944 until the end of the war.129

127n.n., United States Navy Pre-Flight School Band 128Jones, History, 113. 129Ibid.

37 Notable Literature

Patrick Jones is a historical researcher whose work includes a comprehensive study of the Armed Forces School of Music, formerly the Naval School of Music. Jones provides a historical overview of musical training, female musicians, and black American musicians in the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps. The Navy School of Music, which originally trained only Navy musicians, eventually began training Army and Marine

Corps musicians, as well. Jones’ study pieces together the musical traditions within each military branch of service through the formation of a joint-services musical training facility, the Armed Forces School of Music.

Jones’ thorough historical inquiry also notes significant bands within each branch.

Jones states, “Females and African American musicians who served in American military bands have not been highlighted much in previously published literature.”130 The need exists for further research on black musicians within each of the military branches of the

United States. Jones provides sections dedicated to the service of blacks and women within each military branch, although these segments are particularly brief, and Jones acknowledges the deficiency of information in literature.

Jones’ research cites the Navy Band B-1 as the first all-black Navy band. There are some discrepancies in regard to the band’s correct title, such as B-1 Navy Band, Navy

B-1 Band, or Navy Band B-1. With a clear rationalization, Jones refers to the group as the Navy Band B-1.131 However, Jones’s study presents little information surrounding the

130Ibid. 131Ibid., 112.

38 formation of the band, the recruitment of its band members nor any details surrounding the service of the B-1.

In 2013, Alex Albright published a book titled, The Forgotten First: B-1 and the

Integration of the Modern Navy. This book investigates and portrays the political and social influences on a local level in North Carolina that contributed to the formation of the Navy Band B-1. The book also includes dates and details regarding the service of the

Navy Band B-1. This text includes various quotes from band member interviews and other supporting documents. However, the book does not include the political and social influences at the national level that contributed to the formation of the Navy Band B-1.

Albright’s work does not provide reflections of the band members’ nor their perceptions of their service and impact on the racial integration of the United States Navy.

Summary

United States military music is steeped in tradition that can be traced to the formation of the country with heavy influence from European traditions. Musicians have been a part of the American military since the fife and drum corps before the

Revolutionary War. The recruitment and training of military musicians throughout

American history has included various methods ranging from indentured servitude, apprenticeship and formal schooling. Each military band fulfills the unique musical needs of its service branch. The Army and Marine Corps are both ground forces with histories steeped in music serving as signals for battlefield and marching formations. The Navy’s musical history is centered on ceremonial music and diplomacy. Regardless of service

39 branch, the missions for all military bands includes providing entertainment and improving morale.

The Army and Navy had musicians since their founding in the Eighteenth

Century. The Army, Navy, and Marine Corps attempted to train musicians in various ways before founding or joining the Navy School of Music. The Navy School of Music, founded in 1935, proved to be the only one that has experienced continuous and sustained support. Eventually all three services relied on the Navy School of Music for the training of musicians.

The formation of pivotal bands throughout the United States military branches solidified military bands into the history of music in America. World War II put a strain on the military and officials sought to employ underutilized populations as a viable workforce while men served abroad. This decision directly influenced the trajectory of the military music tradition in America.

World War II gave rise to the inclusion of women and blacks in expanded roles of military service. One of those expanded roles was through the military musical tradition.

Service branches began employing women as bandmasters and as musicians. The integration of women into military service in World War II created enlistment opportunities that were not previously afforded to women. This integration resulted in the formation of all-women bands throughout all branches of the military. There were seven full-time all-women bands, one recreational concert band, and several volunteer drum and bugle corps that existed between 1942 and 1946.132 At the conclusion of the war, all

132Sullivan, WAC Bands, 2.

40 of the all-women bands were disbanded, and women returned to their homes. Very few women went on to maintain professional careers in music. Despite the significant contributions of these service women, their stories are mostly available through the work of researcher Jill Sullivan. Additionally, the contributions of black women musicians are only observed in the single research study on the 404th Band (#2 WAC Band), the all- black women’s Army band. These all-women military bands share a history similar to that of black male bands, particularly with regards to the stimulus for the formation of these bands and dates of service.

There are limited scholarly research studies available that provide perspective on the black American musical contributions to the American military music tradition. The contributions of black musicians have not been highlighted in previously published literature. The need exists for further research on black musicians in each of the United

States military branches. This study attempts to help fill that void.

Rationale

Previous research has investigated prominent military bands, instrumental music in military branches, and women’s military bands, but very little research was found that explores the black American perspective of contributions to the military music tradition.

Albeit brief, Jones’s study acknowledges the service of the B-1 and dates of service.

Jones does not examine the circumstances that led to the creation of the Navy Band B-1.

As a result of the scope of Jones’ study his research did not include the formation, the service, or contact with the members of the B-1.

41 This research study took a deeper look into the service of the Navy Band B-1 in addition to the band members’ accounts of significant events. This research study includes former band members’ perceptions of their service in a segregated Navy. This study will also take an in-depth look at the national political and social actions which led to the formations of the Navy Band B-1. The limitations of this study are comprised of the subjectivity of qualitative research methods and the very small sample of Navy Band

B-1 members. As of March 2019, there were three surviving members of the Navy Band

B-1. Due to accessibility and availability, two surviving members were interviewed for inclusion in this study. Additionally, as oral history research is associated with the memory of details surrounding specific events, the historian of the Navy Band B-1 was also interviewed to corroborate events and timelines.

42

Chapter 3

Methodology

Restatement of the Purpose

The purpose of this study is to document the history of the Navy Band B-1 which served as a model for racial integration in 1942. This study investigates the history of the

Navy Band B-1 through its conceptualization, organization, formation and service.

This study acknowledges the gaps in the history of the military band tradition and provides an additional perspective of the service of black American bandsmen.

Furthermore, this study captures and preserves the voices of Navy Band B-1 members through oral history by exploring the experiences of serving in the Navy during World

War II through interviews with surviving Navy Band B-1 members. Chapters Four, Five and Six presents the results for the central research questions pursued in this study. The research questions for this study are as follows:

1. What events and actions attributed to the formation of the Navy Band B-1?

2. What was the role of the Navy Band B-1 in the racial integration of the United

States Navy?

3. What are Navy Band B-1 members’ perspectives of their service and their impact

on the racial integration of the United States Navy?

43 Why Oral History

The use of oral history to share stories, folklore and traditions can be found through human existence across all cultures. The study of oral history theory and methodology is emerging as a practice to uncover gaps or fill gaps that exist in historical context. Oral history is subjective and provides critical understanding to the meaning of the past.133 Due to the subjective nature of oral histories, the theoretical applications and methodology can vary depending upon the research project, the content collected, the method of collection, and the manner of analysis; through subjectivity new perspectives of history can be gained.134 The Oral History Association describes oral history as, “a field of study and a method of gathering, preserving, and interpreting the voices and memories of people, communities, and participants in past events. Oral history is both the oldest type of historical inquiry, predating the written word, and one of the most modern, initiated with tape recorders in the 1940s and now using 21st century digital technologies.”135 The Oral History Association further defines oral history as, “…a method of gathering a body of historical information in oral form, because the scholarly community is involved in the production and use of oral history, the association

133Valerie Yow, “Do I Like Them Too Much?: Effects of Oral History Interview on the Interviewer and Vice-Versa,” Oral History Review 24 no. 2, (Summer 1997): 55- 78. 134Natalie Federer, “The Use of Oral History and Narrative Research in Broadening the Historical Foundation of the Agricultural Communication Field,” (PhD diss., West Lafayette: Purdue University, 2015), 9. 135Oral History Association, OHA Core Principles, 2020, accessed October 20, 2019, http://www.oralhistory.org/oha-core-principles/.

44 recognizes the opportunity and obligation on the parts of all concerned to make this type of historical source as authentic and as useful as possible.”136

The unique perspectives and experiences provided by oral histories have been utilized to expose or to fill gaps that exist in historical records. Compiling oral history has also allowed opportunities for capturing the history of marginalized groups, building communities of shared memory, and gathering various perspectives of social history through lived experience. In many instances throughout history, documentation has been written by the dominant culture and often without human experience and voice. Histories about military experience, the Civil Rights Movement, or the Women’s Rights

Movement, for example, have been written from historical perspectives from the dominant culture and have thus lacked human perspective.137 Oral history uncovers omitted segments and new layers of content to existing bodies of historical literature, while also expanding upon existing history.

Oral history is an established method in the area of humanities and social sciences, using individual life histories to uncover historical understanding on a number of levels. The subjective nature of oral history has resulted in a variety of approaches, methodology, data collection, and analyses with each process being described differently by various oral historians. Green and Hutching describe a general approach to the analysis of interviews based on three key categories of analysis: narrative, emotion, and myths and legends.138 Yow suggests carrying out analysis based on ‘plot, key phrases,

136Ibid. 137Federer, Oral History, 13. 138Anna Green and Megan Hutching, Remembering: Writing Oral History (Auckland: Auckland Press, 2004), 11.

45 structure of narrative, context of the life, self-concept, contradictions, omissions, choices, desires, metaphors, symbols, and the influence of the individual’s work.’139 Oral historians are increasingly aware of not only what is said but how it is said and what is not said; the structure of the narrative and the many layers of meaning is revealed when the testimony is fully unraveled.140 Summerfield characterizes this as the cultural approach,

The starting point of the cultural approach to oral history is to accept that people do not simply remember what happened to them but make sense of the subject matter they recall by interpreting it. Understanding is integral to memory and, like any other knowledge, it is constructed from the language and concepts available to the person remembering. The challenge for the historian is to understand the cultural ingredients that go into accounts of a remembered and interpreted past. Or to put it another way, the oral historian needs to understand not only the narrative offered, but also the meanings invested in it and their discursive origins.141

For the purpose of this study, the use of a cultural approach to oral history will allows for the participants’ cultural perspective to be revealed through interviews. Oral history provides an intricate perspective of historical experience that may vary from one person to another. Understanding the meanings behind the varying narratives, coupled with additional documented research as a cross reference, provides historians with a deeper analysis of the past.142 Evoking past experiences through the oral history process

139Yow, Effects, 307. 140Bethan Elinor Coupland, “Heritage and Memory: Oral History and Mining Heritage in Wales and Cornwall,” (PhD diss., Exeter: University of Exeter, 2012), 59. 141Penny Summerfield, “Culture and Composure: Creating Narratives of the Gendered Self in Oral History Interviews,” Cultural and Social History 1, (2004): 67. 142Alessandro Portelli, “The Peculiarities of Oral History” History Workshop, 12, no.1 (Autumn 1981) 96-107. https://doi.org/10.1093/hwj/12.1.96

46 allows for further understanding about why people remember, from a cultural perspective.143

The interview process is a form of storytelling or history-telling. Seidman defines the purpose of interviews not as “a means in which to gather answers, but as a means to gain understanding; the purpose of in-depth interviewing is not to get answers to questions, to test a hypothesis, or to evaluate as the term is normally used.” At the root of an in-depth interview is an interest in understanding the lived experience of other people and the meaning they make of that experience.144 During the interview, interviewees reveal unknown aspects of events or unknown events that shed light on unexplored areas of daily life.145

This research seeks to understand the lived experiences and uncover unknown aspects of the stories of the Navy Band B-1 (B-1). This research study examined historical events associated with the B-1, its role in the integration of the U.S. Navy, and explored the perspectives of the B-1 members through interviews. As military veterans of

World War II, the surviving members of the B-1 are well advanced in age and eager to share their stories. Documenting their personal accounts provided the B-1 members an opportunity to reflect on their feelings and emotions surrounding events experienced throughout their service in a way that has not been included in historical record. At the start of this research project, there were eight identified surviving members of the B-1.

143Federer, Oral History, 39. 144Irvin Seidman, Interviewing as Qualitative Research: A Guide for researchers in education and the social sciences (New York: Teachers College Press, 2006) 117. 145Alessandro Portelli, “What makes oral history different?” in The Oral History Reader, ed. Robert Perks and Alistair Thomson (London, UK: Routledge, 1998) 32-42.

47 By the time of data collection, only three surviving members remained. Given the advanced age of the participants, it was imperative to document the surviving B-1 members’ recollection of events and their personal perspectives of their service in the

Navy.

Design of the Study

This study employed both archival historical research, interviews and qualitative narrative analysis. The methodology used is drawn from traditional historical and oral history study processes. Sources of information include government, media, and personal documents, as well as interviews and correspondences. The method of investigation includes historical and qualitative research design. The historical methodology used for data-searching, analysis, evaluation, verification, and description is based on techniques outlined and described by Heller and Wilson146 including the identification of informants.

This includes strategies for locating materials and determining authenticity of documents.

The interview portion of the study is designed in accordance with the qualitative interview paradigm. The interviews include first-person interviews with former B-1 members and a related informant in addition to both paper and electronic correspondences. This study also utilized secondary sources such as dissertations, theses, research papers, newsletters, and personal correspondences.

146George N. Heller and Bruce D. Wilson, “Historical Research,” in Handbook of Research on Music Teaching and Learning, ed. Richard Colwell (New York: Macmillan, Inc., 1992), 102.

48 The qualifications of the researcher as an interpreter is an important consideration in both historical and qualitative research. The researcher is a black American in addition to being a graduate of a Historically Black University. Thus, this researcher possesses the implicit knowledge that informs interpretation of the data in the context of black

Americans’ experiences. The researcher met and engaged with potential participants during one of the B-1 reunions in North Carolina prior to the launch of this study. This afforded the researcher the opportunity to observe the interactions of the band members and listen to the band members share memories with each other in an informal setting, not as a researcher but as a reunion attendee. Within this informal setting, the researcher was engaged by band members in conversations about music in addition to social and political conversations. As a result of interactions with band members at their reunion, the potential participants were familiar with the researcher prior to the official start of this research study.

The Institutional Review Board (IRB) process consisted of human subject applications, research participant consent forms, and additional correspondences. The

IRB-related documents were filed and processed with The Pennsylvania State University

IRB Office and all documents were secured as policy dictates. The recruitment procedures and study design of this project were approved by The Pennsylvania State

University IRB (see appendix A). The researcher completed the mandatory Social and

Behavioral Human Subjects Certification prior to IRB approval.

49 Data Collection

Potential participants were first identified, contacted by phone and emailed to inform them of their eligibility for participation in this study. An initial recruitment document was sent to each of the potential participants (see Appendix B). Only two of the three surviving members responded to the researcher’s communication attempts. The researcher made additional attempts to follow up with the nonresponding surviving band member. The researcher discovered that one of the potential participants may not be able to participate due to medical reasons. As a result, participants in the study included two surviving B-1 members, and historian Alex Albright.

The researcher chose to interview Alex Albright, Navy Band B-1 historian for inclusion in this study. Alex Albright was selected as a potential participant for this study because of his knowledge of the creation, formation, and service of the B-1. Alex

Albright had an established relationship with the band members in addition to having conducted numerous interviews with the band members. Albright was utilized as an additional resource for triangulating details of service of the B-1.

After potential participants confirmed their willingness to take part in this study, the researcher scheduled interviews with each participant and met with them at their residence. Interviews were comprised of predetermined questions (see Appendix D) with follow-up questions based on the participants’ responses. The same predetermined questions were asked of each participant. Upon arrival for each interview, the researcher sat and talked with the participant for an hour in an effort to get to know him, develop a relationship, and gain his trust. Meeting with the participants at their homes afforded

50 opportunities for them to share with the researcher photos, memorabilia, and other artifacts associated with their experiences in the B-1. The conversations led directly into the interviews that included predetermined questions for open-ended responses. Each interview included follow-up questions and flowed in the direction of the responses.

Participants were allowed to go in-depth with their responses as much as they desired.

Each participant was reminded they were allowed to skip any questions or discontinue their participation in this study at any time without penalty. Each interview lasted approximately 45 minutes to an hour.

Each interview was recorded as a part of the data collection process with a voice recorder and reviewed immediately following the interview. Interviews were transcribed and mailed to the participants for member-check to ensure the accuracy of the transcription and the intentions of the interviewee when answering questions.

Interviewees were provided an opportunity to redact or omit any portions of the interview. No redactions or omissions of interview content were requested.

Coding

The transcribed interviews were analyzed with qualitative analysis software for coding, MAXQDA.147 The coding software allowed the researcher to gather all of the interview data electronically in one program. Additionally, the software allowed for the audio recordings of the interviews to be synced with the written transcripts. This enabled the researcher to listen to interviews while reading transcripts, and to interpret the

147MAXQDA is a software program for qualitative and mixed methods research.

51 participants’ voice inflections and verbal cues. Coding of the interviews provided the ability to make comparisons and acknowledge variations within and across experiences.

The work of Mills, Booner, and Francis encourages researchers to enter into the coding process with as few predetermined thoughts as possible to reduce the chances of the researcher filtering the data through his/her own pre-existing experiences.148

The initial coding process of the interviews included transcribing the recorded interview into written form. Each interview was first coded for key words by the researcher. The initial coding process provided the researcher an opportunity to investigate the transcript contents for similar or contrasting experiences of shared events and terminology. The initial coding revealed interview content was centered around the categories: 1) recruitment/formation of the band, 2) training, active duty/service, and 3) personal reflections. This aligned with the categories of interview questions.

The researcher reviewed the transcripts additional times for codes within the event categories. The process of coding categorized transcript segments led to the emergence of themes. Themes included: racial tensions, impact, pride, hardships, patriotism, and legacy. Transcript segments were then sorted and identified by related themes which were analyzed in this research project.

The data collected from the oral history interviews provides a personal view for understanding the lived experiences of the Navy Band B-1 members as forerunners of racial integration into the U.S. Navy. The data from Albright served as triangulation of

148Jane Mills, Ann Booner, and Karen Francis, “Adopting a Constructivist Approach to Grounded Theory: Implications for Research Design,” International Journal of Nursing Practice 12, no. 1 (March 2006): 8-13.

52 historical events in addition to his personal conversations with the B-1 members. The data derived from this research highlights the perspectives of men of the B-1.

Perspectives that have not been found in the traditional historical narrative. This study provides a personal view of the B-1 members’ understanding of activities, musical performances, service and historical moments in a way that has not previously been shared.

53

Chapter 4

The Conceptualization, Formation, and Recruitment of the Navy Band B-1

The conceptualization, formation, and recruitment of the Navy Band B-1 can be traced back to the increasing need of the federal government to meet the demands of anticipated workforce shortages as the United States prepared to enter World War II.

Political and societal pressure to provide black Americans with equal rights and opportunities in America society including full integration of the U.S. military were additional factors. President Franklin Roosevelt emerged as a central figure advocating for racial integration in the U.S. Armed Forces. The U.S. Navy leadership strongly resisted efforts towards racial integration and expressed the view that the role of blacks in the Navy should remain the same, serving only as messmen and stevedores. Roosevelt proposed an idea to first integrate blacks as musicians aboard Navy ships as a move towards integration and eventually open enlistment for a fully racially integrated Navy.

This chapter provides a broader perspective on the political and social actions that led to the formation of the Navy Band B-1.

As racial discrimination against blacks in America intensified after World War I, so did discrimination within the military. Prior to 1942, blacks were only allowed to serve in the United States Navy as mess attendants and stevedores. World War II created a need for an additional workforce to meet the demands of the war efforts effectively giving rise to the inclusion of black Americans in expanded roles of military service. One of those expanded roles was through the military musical tradition.

54 President Franklin Roosevelt regularly attempted to deal with racial issues within the United States even prior to World War II. Throughout his tenure President Roosevelt appointed black American leaders to various councils and delegations. Dr. Mary McLeod

Bethune was a regular member of President Roosevelt’s delegations and devoted her life to improving the social, economic, and educational position of black Americans.

Bethune, a black American woman, was also the founder of what is now Bethune-

Cookman University. Bethune had become friends with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt who urged President Roosevelt to advocate for the nation’s minority population.

President Roosevelt created the National Youth Administration to assist young

Americans, many of whom were minorities struggling with economic and social issues.

In a 1935 White House meeting with the members of the National Youth Administration,

Bethune addressed the president,

Now I speak, Mr. President, not as Mrs. Bethune but as the voice of fourteen million Americans who seek full citizenship. We have been taking the crumbs for a long time. We have been eating the feet and the head of the chicken long enough. The time has come when we want some white meat.149

President Roosevelt, said to be visibly touched by Bethune’s words, leaned across the desk and grasped both of her hands in his and stated, “Mrs. Bethune, thank you for the informal knowledge you have placed at our disposal in these important days of beginning in a new field. I’m glad that I’m able to contribute something to help make a better life for your people. I want to be sure that I shall continue to do my best for them in

149Cross, Sailors, 163.

55 every way.”150 In the following years, President Roosevelt continued his efforts to end racial discrimination within the military, government, and business.

Efforts to get black Americans to participate in the defense of the country was a complicated issue amongst black American communities. Many believed blacks should be fully integrated into the military which was in contrast to the segregated practice of the military at the time. Some also believed that black Americans should not participate in the American military having been victims of many forms of oppression and discrimination comparable to that which the American government had condemned of foreign countries. An alternative view argued that blacks should use military service as an opportunity to exercise their rights and perform their civic duty as a means to confront racial discrimination in America. Many community leaders and civil rights advocates urged black Americans to participate in the defense effort in order to combat both the foreign enemy and domestic segregation and discrimination. The name given to this effort was the Double V campaign: victory against fascism abroad and discrimination at home.151 Integration of black Americans in the military would prove challenging in many aspects.

The Selective Service Act of 1940 included a nondiscrimination clause which banned racial discrimination but only insofar as ensuring that every tenth man inducted into the armed forces would be black. Nonetheless, segregated service would continue.

The policy and practice of segregation in the military often resulted in black soldiers and

150Ibid., 164. 151Bernard Nalty and Morris MacGregor, Blacks in the Military: Essential Documents, (Wilmington: Scholarly Resources Inc., 1981), 103.

56 sailors doing menial labor jobs with inferior living conditions. Walter White, a black

American who was the secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of

Colored People (NAACP), was interested in ending segregation of the military. As

President Roosevelt continued his efforts to address this issue, numerous meetings were held with black American community leaders in addition to military leaders. As the military continued to defend discriminatory practices and black leaders pushed for integration, President Roosevelt’s attempts at compromise would prove more difficult than anticipated.

In October 1940, Robert P. Patterson, Assistant Secretary of War, issued a memorandum to Roosevelt concerning the War Department’s policy regarding Negroes.

The policy included several notes regarding the service of blacks, the point of the policy defended the practice of segregation:

The policy of the War Department is not to intermingle colored (blacks) and white enlisted personnel in the same regimental organizations. This policy has been proven satisfactory over a long period of years and to make changes would produce situations destructive to morale and detrimental to the preparations for national defense. For similar reasons the department does not contemplate assigning colored reserve officers other than those of the Medical Corps and chaplains to existing Negro combat units of the regular army. These units are going [sic] concerns, accustomed through many years to the present system. Their morale is splendid, their rate of reenlistment is exceptionally high, and their field training is well advanced. It is the opinion of the War Department that no experiments should be tried with the organizational setup of these units at this critical time.152

The political battle for the full integration of black Americans in military service would continue for some time and often in public forms. In October of 1940, a statement issued

152Ibid., 107.

57 from the White House implied a committee including Walter White had approved of a policy of segregation for blacks in the army. White immediately responded publicly in a letter sent to the 600 branches of the NAACP, “…We are inexpressibly shocked that a president of the United States at a time of national peril should surrender so completely to enemies of democracy who would destroy national unity by advocating segregation.

Official approval by the commander in chief of the army and navy of such discrimination and segregation is a stab in the back of democracy.”153

In the summer of 1941, Walter White met with President Roosevelt in response to the threat of a large protest by black Americans who were dissatisfied with the segregation of the military, and to being banned from jobs with industrial plants providing wartime equipment and materials. Roosevelt was faced with the potential threat that violence would occur as a result of this protest. This circumstance led to a meeting which included Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox, Walter White and Asa Philip

Randolph, head of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first black labor union.154

White and Randolph pointed out to the President the irony of the American military being trained to fight against Hitler’s theories of race while the Army and Navy were practicing a similar philosophy. Roosevelt turned to Secretary Knox for an explanation. “We can’t do a thing about it because men live in such intimacy aboard ship that we simply can’t enlist Negroes above the rank of messman,” Knox said.155 Roosevelt replied, “We’ve got some good Negro bands in the Navy. Why don’t we make a beginning by putting some of

153Ibid., 109. 154Cross, Sailors, 165. 155Ibid.

58 these bands aboard battleships? White and Negro men aboard ships will thereby learn to know and respect each other and then we can move on from there.”156 Secretary Knox replied that he would explore the idea.

Secretary Knox’s opinions of blacks in the Navy was well known. Knox’s stance was clear as he had previously stated, “that men of the colored race in any branch (other) than messman branch, and, promoted to the position of petty officer, cannot maintain discipline among men of the white race…As a result, teamwork, harmony and ship efficiency are seriously handicapped.”157

Concluding the meeting, President Roosevelt agreed to an executive order to remedy the situation and asked White and Randolph to prepare a draft. After several drafts which White said emasculated the order to the point of it being worthless, a final draft was issued.158 On June 25, 1941 Executive Order 8802 was issued by Roosevelt.

This order prohibited ethnic or racial discrimination in the nation’s defense industry.

Although the order did not end segregation, it was viewed as a step towards ending discrimination in America.

Naval Secretary Knox attempted to deal with the political pressure to integrate the

U.S. Navy by steering blacks toward the existing black units of the U.S. Army. Major

General Thomas Holcomb, Commandant of the Marines, echoed Secretary Knox’s stance stating, “the Negro race has every opportunity now to satisfy its aspirations for combat in the Army, a very much larger organization than the Navy or Marine Corps, and their

156Cross, Sailors, 166. 157Purdon, Black Company, 13. 158 Walter White, A Man Called White: The Autobiography of Walter White (Ann Arbor: Viking Press, 1948), 191.

59 desire to enter the naval service is largely, I think, an effort to break into a club that doesn’t want them.”159 Knox claimed that any service at sea other than cooking or serving food was beyond the capabilities of nonwhites.160

Although Executive Order 8802 had been issued, Knox continued to resist the

President’s orders. In July of 1941, Knox formed a committee to investigate whether the

Navy should accept blacks for other duties. The committee found there was no discrimination because the characteristics of blacks made them solely fit for messman duties. Commandant Holcomb bluntly refused to have any men of color in his organization. “If it were a question of having a Marine Corps of 5,000 whites or 250,000

Negroes, I would rather have the whites.”161 An official statement announced, “The Navy insists even more strongly that it cannot take a chance on a social experiment. Since racial integration on naval units implies much more than in any other service, the Navy feels that it cannot justly be expected to be so far ahead of the nation’s general habits in racial matters as the advocates of full integration.”162 Despite the Navy’s stance on admitting blacks, President Roosevelt continued to advance his agenda not only to include musicians but by asking for plans to admit 5,000 black American recruits to the

Navy.

The build-up to World War II created political pressure for societal change in addition to an increased push by national black leaders and the black press towards racial integration of the military. As political actions to end racial discrimination were taking

159MacGregor, World War II, 64. 160Astor, Right to Fight, 159. 161Ibid. 162Ibid., 160.

60 place at the national level, the implications of these actions would find their way to the state level.

J. Melville Broughton, governor of North Carolina from 1941 to 1945, had political ties to and was a strong supporter of President Roosevelt. In a February 1941 meeting with President Roosevelt, the President commended Broughton’s support of efforts for completing military projects in North Carolina. Through his connection to

Roosevelt, Governor Broughton had learned of the government’s intent to build four pre- flight schools to support the war efforts on university campuses. Governor Broughton lobbied for the placement of a preflight school at the University of North Carolina,

Chapel Hill. Military construction was appealing to Broughton in addition to naval support to complete construction projects in his state.

After the Navy issued an order to inspect over sixty college campuses, in

February of 1942, it was decided that four college campuses would house the preflight schools: the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; the University of Georgia, the

University of Iowa, and St. Mary’s College of California. The Southern Governors

Conference of 1942 unanimously objected to the presence of nonwhite soldiers.163

However, some of the southern governors argued that if it were necessary to house black troops on their turf, they should at least be natives of the region rather than from the

North. Although it was intended for each of these preflight schools to house all-black

Navy bands, only two of the four schools ended up with all-black bands. It is unclear why

163Ibid., 161.

61 the preflight schools at the University of Iowa and the University of Georgia did not have all-black bands.

In April 1942, Secretary Knox announced that the Navy would begin enlisting blacks for general service. While the Navy officially moved towards admitting blacks for full service, it appears that Governor Broughton was already advancing efforts to house an all-black Navy band at the University of North Carolina. Broughton was perceived as a moderate in comparison to southern standards of the time. After he was elected in

November 1940, he visited North Carolina’s black colleges on a speaking campaign.

Broughton boasted that North Carolina led the south in appropriations for Negro education, “and it didn't take a Supreme Court decision to make us do it.”164

Although Governor Broughton supported the separate-but-equal doctrine, North

Carolina was viewed as progressive in its approach to providing appropriate funding to black colleges and efforts to provide black teachers equal pay to their white counterparts.

For example, in June of 1942, the state announced that in order to bring salary ranges even closer to equal between white and black public-school teachers, a 5% raise was to be given to black teachers while white teachers received no raise.165 North Carolina was attempting to gradually close the pay gap between black and white teachers throughout the state. Broughton frequently visited black campuses throughout the state and worked with black community leaders to improve education in North Carolina. Broughton recognized the high level of cooperation needed to accomplish the proposed idea of a

164Alex Albright, The Forgotten First: B-1 and the Integration of the Modern Navy (Fountain: RA Fountain, 2013), 41. 165Ibid.

62 preflight school with an all-black band attachment. Broughton worked with black educational leaders, the white administration at the University of North Carolina, black and white community leadership in Chapel Hill, and the Navy. Had any of these groups or individuals balked at the developing plan it may have never come to fruition.166

Although the Navy did not publicly announce its intent to open enlistment for black Americans for full service until April 1942, efforts to create an all-black Navy band in North Carolina were already underway. The Navy sent Chief Bandmaster C.E.

Dudrow, who was brought out of retirement for war service, to North Carolina to select the band members who had been recommended by a committee consisting of Governor

Broughton; C.C. Spaulding, a black businessman and three college presidents; Shepard of

North Carolina College, Bluford of North Carolina Agricultural & Technical College, and J.W. Seabrook of Fayetteville State University. Dudrow auditioned band members, made final selections, and supervised band members’ early training.

Recruitment and Formation of the Navy Band B-1

Boasting numerous black educational institutions with strong music programs,

North Carolina appeared to be an ideal place to initiate the integration agenda. With a strong history for educating blacks at surrounding black colleges, robust black musical culture, support from the national and state government, and support from black and white educational leaders, external elements were in place to achieve the goal of having an all-black Navy band serve as a part of a preflight school at an all-white university. The

166Ibid., 43.

63 goal in forming an all-black Navy band was to create a band from the best black musicians available in North Carolina. It was just as important that the band members were educated and, as one of the band members phrased it, “they needed people who knew how to act,”167 in response to anticipated racial tensions these men would experience.

It was the Navy’s intent to recruit the entire North Carolina A&T College Band, including band director Bernard L. Mason. Under Mason’s direction the North Carolina

A&T Band had received national recognition. The North Carolina A&T Band was to be the nucleus of the first colored navy band.168 Mason did the majority of the recruiting of band members but only twenty-five of the A&T band members were able to pass the physical examination. Mason also failed to pass the physical examination. As a result, the

Navy expanded its search for members.

A concentration of musical talent in Greensboro, NC was evident in the reputations earned by the North Carolina A&T Band and the Dudley High School Band of Greensboro. As the Navy began searching for a new band leader and additional band members, the Dudley High School Band was a logical choice for recruitment. The

Dudley High School Band, under the direction of James Parsons, had become known throughout the state for its precision marching and expert musicianship. By the spring of

1942, it numbered nearly 100 members in its concert band and over 150 members in its marching band. Parsons earned both Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Music degrees from James Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, and had been freshmen dean,

167Ibid. 168Ibid., 55.

64 instructor of music, and music department chairman at Lincoln University in Jefferson,

Missouri from 1938-40.169 From 1940-1942, he was the music director of instrumental music for the Negro School System in Greensboro, North Carolina.170 Parsons had already applied to join the Navy and his enlistment had been approved back in December

1941. Then, in February 1942, he recalled, “I was contacted by the Navy with the idea of the band.”171 Mason’s failure to pass the physical exam facilitated Parson’s future in the

Navy. Parsons was selected to serve as the band leader for the Navy Band B-1. Parsons was the first black Naval Bandmaster of World War II. In 1961, he later made history when President Kennedy appointed him as the first black American U.S. District Court

Judge.

The Navy’s recruitment efforts resulted in the selection of men who were musically talented. Many were college students with an advanced education. Of the forty- four recruited band members, twenty-five had attended North Carolina A&T in

Greensboro, four had attended North Carolina College in Durham, three attended

Hampton Institute in Virginia, one attended Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, one attended Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, and one attended South Carolina

State in Orangeburg, South Carolina.172 The remaining members were graduates of

Dudley and Hillside High School. On May 27, 1942, the Navy Band B-1 became official with a mass swearing-in of the recruits in Raleigh, North Carolina.

169Jones, History, 114. 170n.n., United States Navy Pre-Flight School Band 171Albright, Forgotten, 55. 172n.n., United States Navy Pre-Flight School Band

65 Summary

Numerous actions contributed to the formation of the Navy Band B-1. Among these was the anticipated need to increase the workforce in order to meet the demands of the United States entering World War II. In addition, growing political pressure for black

American civil rights and military-related job opportunities contributed to the racial integration of the military. Black American civil rights leaders and the press pushed for integration, often noting the hypocrisy of fighting Hitler’s race theories abroad while the

U.S. government practiced racial discrimination in America. President Roosevelt held numerous meetings with black civil rights leaders in an effort to compromise with military leaders who were resistant to enlisting blacks into full military service.

Roosevelt resorted to political maneuvering to make advances towards racial integration of the military.

The President proposed to begin integration by forming all-black Navy bands to serve aboard ships in the Navy. Ultimately, the idea to put all-black bands aboard Navy ships did not fully materialize as a result of the Navy policy of assigning blacks to service within the continental United States. Utilizing musicians as a means to break down racial barriers within the Navy did occur.

President Roosevelt worked with state governments to house preflight schools and proposed that the schools have all-black Navy band attachments. However, only two of the four preflight schools ended up with all-black bands. The University of North

Carolina housed a preflight school and an all-black Navy band, the Navy Band B-1. The

Navy opened The Negro Navy School of Music, a segregated music school, at the Great

66 Lakes Camp to train black naval musicians in August 1942. By the end of the war, over

5,000 black American naval musicians had received training at the Negro Navy School of

Music. The Navy Band B-1 was sworn into service on May 27, 1942 prior to the opening of The Negro Navy School of Music at Great Lakes Camps.

67

Chapter 5

The Role of the Navy Band B-1 in Racial Integration of the United States Navy During World War II

Introduction

Black soldiers and sailors have contributed to American military service since the founding of the United States, including service in the Revolutionary War. In addition to

Crispus Attucks being noted as the first to die in the Revolutionary War, blacks have fought and died in military service in every American war. With each military conflict, the question of blacks fighting in American wars has emerged as an issue throughout

American history.

In 1917, the United States entered World War I. Both the Army and the Navy were hesitant to utilize blacks for military service. More than 400,000 Negroes served in the Army during World War I but 75 percent served in labor outfits.173 During World

War I, blacks in the Navy were able to attain the rank of petty officer but, by war’s end,

Navy policy dictated that blacks could only enlist as mess attendants and only rise to the position of officers’ cook or steward.174 The Navy’s policy towards blacks had also regressed from one that allowed racially-mixed crews to serve aboard ships at all ranks.

173Jean Byers, A Study of the Negro in Military Service (Washington, DC: Department of Defense, 1950), 3. 174Ibid., 7.

68 Discrimination of blacks resumed; black servicemen were relegated to cooking, cleaning, or labor-intensive duties throughout the military branches.

As the United States prepared to enter World War II, the issue of black Americans

“fighting for the right to fight” emerged as a national discussion. In 1940, when the War

Department announced its intent to increase armed forces through enlistment, many blacks were turned away from the Navy and service in the Marine Corps was still strictly prohibited to blacks. The Navy was openly resistant to racial integration and made numerous public statements against it, as noted in Chapter Four of this study.

Ultimately, political pressure from President Franklin D. Roosevelt paired with social pressure from black community leaders eventually pushed the Navy towards racial integration. President Roosevelt’s suggestion to naval administrators was this: “We’ve got some good Negro bands in the Navy. Why don’t we make a beginning by putting some of these bands aboard battleships? White and Negro men aboard ships will thereby learn to know and respect each other and then we can move on from there.”175 Strategic efforts to integrate the Navy with black musicians and the creation of an all-black navy band were initiated.

In August of 1942, the Great Lakes Camps opened to house and train black recruits for naval service. Since the official Navy School of Music was closed to blacks, a

Negro Navy Music School was opened at the Great Lakes Camps, as well. President

Roosevelt, Governor J. Melville Broughton of North Carolina, and Navy administrators worked to create an all-black band to be attached to the preflight school at North Carolina

175Cross, Sailors, 166.

69 University, Chapel Hill. The formation of this all-black band resulted from targeted recruitment and North Carolina state governmental support.

The recruitment and training of the Navy Band B-1 (B-1) did not follow typical protocol. Atypically, the B-1 arrived at Navy Basic Training in Norfolk, Virginia on June

1, 1942 as an intact unit. Additionally, the B-1 did not receive any official music training from the Navy School of Music or from the Negro Navy School of Music as it had yet to be officially opened. As a result, B-1 musicians were trained for their musical duties by

C.E. Dudrow, who was brought out of retirement to supervise the training of the B-1.

Each selected member had a strong background in music and marching maneuvers as the men of the B-1 were required to audition and were selected from North Carolina’s black universities and high school band programs. Therefore, the training of the B-1 as a unit progressed quickly. Once the B-1 reported for duty, James Parsons took over as bandmaster for the Navy Band B-1.

The B-1’s Pioneering Role

The role of the Navy Band B-1 in the racial integration of the United States Navy during World War II was just one part of an overall approach by Navy administration.

The possibility of an all-black band serving in the continental United States was a new approach outside of the service of Alton Augustus Adams, the Navy’s first black bandmaster, and his all-black Navy band in 1917. Adams and his band were recruited from the Virgin Islands and stationed there throughout their service. Adams had retired

70 by 1933 until he was recalled into service for World War II. Prior to the service of the B-

1, there were no blacks serving as naval musicians in the continental United States.

The B-1’s primary role was to first fulfill their intended mission, the same as all military bands – to promote esprit de corps amongst the troops and contribute to positive morale. The B-1’s attachment to the newly formed preflight school at the University of

North Carolina, Chapel Hill included playing for the cadets daily. Throughout the B-1’s service in North Carolina, the band would march from their barracks in the black neighborhood to campus. Marching to campus allowed the B-1 to be viewed by white and black community members every day. The visibility of the B-1 demonstrated that blacks had the capability to serve in roles other than stewards or messmen.

Additional responsibilities for the B-1 included performing at special events such as regimental reviews, war bond rallies, and patriotic assemblies throughout the region.

The B-1 played for numerous war bond rallies to raise funds to directly contribute to the war effort. The B-1 once performed for a special “Negro War Bond Rally,” in Durham

North Carolina that raised $75,000 and netted 232 Navy enlistees.176 The Cloudbusters, a smaller jazz ensemble of the B-1, became popular within the community and was regularly requested for events. The men of the B-1 served at the preflight school of the

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill for over 20-months until they were reassigned.

Throughout the service of the B-1 in Chapel Hill, there were no incidents.

Although the men had been told during recruitment that they would serve “stateside” throughout the duration of the war, that promise would prove to be false. The Navy Band

176 Albright, Forgotten, 89.

71 B-1 was reassigned to serve in Manana City, Hawaii. At the time of its transfer, there had been multiple instances of racial conflicts between the black and white naval servicemen in Hawaii.

The reassignment of the Navy Band B-1 to Hawaii was questionable to the band members and they suspected that their leader, James Parsons, was responsible. The true reason for their reassignment was not revealed to the men until they saw their former base commander from Chapel Hill, Commander O.O. Kessing, who came to visit them in

Manana. Several bandsmen recalled the Kessing visit in Hawaii. Commander Kessing revealed to the men that he had specifically requested the B-1 be reassigned to his command. Kessing was charged with establishing and running recreation for Admiral

William F. Halsey’s Third Fleet: 11 aircraft carriers, six light carriers, and eight battleships. It was Kessing’s intent for the B-1 band to be a part of entertaining the entire fleet. It is likely that Kessing requested the B-1 as a result of his interactions with the B-1 and because their service in North Carolina went without incident. Although it is difficult to directly say that the B-1 was reassigned in order to help alleviate racial tensions in

Hawaii, it seems reasonable to propose that the B-1’s presence did not further aggravate racial tensions and may have actually contributed to improving the situation at the time.

Summary

While the Navy was initially resistant to the integration of black Americans into service at ranks other than the steward branch, it eventually changed its approach. The

Navy initially began recruiting blacks for segregated services, changing from segregated

72 service to fully integrated service by the end of World War II. Once blacks were admitted into service, the need for segregated barracks emerged. This created an added strain on resources, in addition to increased racial tensions amongst the sailors, which compelled

Navy administrators to reevaluate discriminatory policies and practices in an effort to create an efficient and effective military force.

Immediately following the end of the war, the Navy gave indications of continuing its admirable policy of integrating Negroes into its various departments and branches.177 In February of 1946, the Navy took a great step forward and lifted all restrictions governing the types of assignments available to black personnel. This meant that, for the first time, blacks in general service assignments would be assigned to combatant ships. Additionally, the Navy School of Music was opened to blacks that same year. By the time the Navy School of Music was finally opened to blacks, over 5,000 black naval musicians had received musical training at the Great Lakes Camps.

While it is difficult to uncover the direct wartime impact of the Navy Band B-1, successful completion of its primary mission of esprit de corps contributed to the larger goal of victory in World War II. It appears that the formation of the Navy Band B-1 was a pioneering effort of racial integration through the naval music tradition. The formation of the Navy Band B-1 demonstrated that the goal of forming an all-black band could be accomplished. For their role in the World War II campaign, the men of the B-1 were awarded the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, a Good Conduct Medal, and World War II

Victory Medal.

177Byers, Study, 261.

73 The B-1 bandsmen’s service as black Americans in the Navy contributed to change in military racial policies. During this time, the first black officers of the Navy, known as the Golden Thirteen, were commissioned in March of 1944. However, those first black officers were not allowed to command white sailors and instead were put in charge of work details. Ultimately, over 160,000 black Americans served in the Navy during World War II. While subsequent Navy integration milestones cannot be directly attributed to the B-1, the band’s service record would suggest that the high level of success the band had under difficult, often segregated conditions played a role in the

Navy’s movement towards racial integration.

74

Chapter 6

History of the Navy Band B-1 and the Band Members Perspectives of Their Service in The United States Navy

Introduction

The initial idea to form an all-black Navy band can be traced back to comments made by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during a meeting with Navy officials and black

American community leaders. In this meeting, they discussed the integration of black

Americans into naval service during the build-up to World War II. President Roosevelt suggested placing all-black bands aboard ships to start the process of full racial integration within the Navy. The Navy was initially resisted to racial integration.

In the following years, the Navy made efforts to integrate black Americans into naval service. Direct efforts were made in integrating black Americans into the naval military music tradition. The Navy assigned Chief Bandmaster C.E. Dudrow, who was brought out of retirement for war service, to recruit an all-black band that would be stationed at the University of North Carolina’s preflight school. On May 27, 1942, the recruits for the all-black Navy Band B-1 (B-1) were sworn into service in Raleigh, North

Carolina. The recruits then traveled to Norfolk, Virginia to receive basic training at the

Navy’s training facilities.

Upon completion of basic training, the B-1 departed to report for duty in Chapel

Hill, North Carolina on July 31, 1942. The B-1 served in Chapel Hill for almost two years. In May of 1944, the band was reassigned to Manana Oakee, Hawaii. The B-1

75 remained in Hawaii until the end of the war and the completion of their military service.

The last B-1 serviceman departed Hawaii in early 1946.

The data collected from oral history interviews provides a personal view for understanding the lived experiences of the B-1 members as pioneers of racial integration in the U.S. Navy. This research took a historical look at the events and actions that attributed to the formation of the B-1 in addition to the band’s role in the racial integration of the U.S. Navy. To investigate the band members’ perceptions of their service and its impact on racial integration, interviews were conducted and analyzed qualitatively. The data for this chapter was collected through archival research and personal interviews. The interviewees personal, lived experiences were recorded for analysis.

The initial coding process of the interviews included transcribing the recorded interview into written form. Each interview was first coded for key words by the researcher. The initial coding process provided the researcher an opportunity to investigate the transcript contents for similar/contrasting experiences of shared events and terminology. The first initial coding revealed interview content was centered around the categories: 1) recruitment/formation of the band, 2) training, active duty/service, and 3) personal reflections. This aligned with the categories of interview questions.

The researcher reviewed the transcripts additional times for codes within the event categories. The process of coding categorized transcript segments led to the emergence of themes. Themes included: racial tensions, impact, pride, hardships, patriotism, and legacy. Transcript segments were then sorted and identified by related themes which were analyzed in this research project.

76 This oral history provides a personal view of the B-1 member’s understanding of activities, performances, service, and historical moments in a way that has not been previously shared. In an effort to maintain the chronology of historical events associated with the B-1, recurring themes were documented in this chapter throughout the presentation of historical chronological events for the band.

To examine the B-1 members’ perspectives of their service and impact on the racial integration of the U.S. Navy, the three surviving members of the Navy Band B-1 were identified as potential participants in this research study. The researcher attempted to contact the potential participants by e-mail and then by telephone to inform them of eligibility for participation in this study. Two of the three surviving members responded to communications for inclusion in this study. Additionally, Alex Albright, who serves as historian for the Navy Band B-1 reunion committee was identified as a participant in this research. After receiving verbal or e-mailed interest to participate in this study, the researcher scheduled interviews with each participant and met with each individual at their place of residence.

Upon arrival for each interview, the research participant and family members were present to greet the researcher and shared positive remarks regarding this research project. Approximately an hour was devoted to talking with each participant in an effort to develop a rapport and gain their trust. Meeting at participants’ homes provided additional opportunities for them to share photos, memorabilia, and other artifacts associated with the service of the Navy Band B-1. Each participant offered memorabilia and artifacts for inclusion in this study.

77 The interviews contained predetermined questions for open-ended responses (see

Appendix D). Each interview included follow-up questions and flowed in the direction of the responses. Participants were reminded that they may skip any questions or discontinue their participation in the study at any time without penalty. Each interview lasted approximately 45 minutes to one hour. At the conclusion of the interviews, additional time was spent with the participants as each one shared more stories about the personal lives, careers, and experiences of the B-1 members.

Alex Albright was interviewed as a result of his knowledge of the Navy Band B-

1. Albright is a retired collegiate English professor and is the historian of the Navy Band

B-1 reunion committee. His interview served as corroboration for some of the stories the band members shared in addition to assisting in archival research.

Participants

Calvin Morrow, Navy Band B-1, French Hornist

Calvin Morrow, a native of Greensboro, North Carolina, was a senior high school student and band member at Dudley High School in North Carolina in 1942. A United

States Navy recruiter asked James B. Parsons, Morrow’s high school band director, to be the band leader for an all-black Navy band. Morrow, and a few other high school band members, heard that the Navy was planning to integrate with the formation of a black band. Along with Morrow, nine Dudley High School band members decided to join the

Navy to become members of the all-black band under the direction of their high school

78 band director. Morrow successfully passed the physical examination for entrance into the

Navy and was sent to Raleigh, North Carolina to meet with other recruited members of the newly formed Navy Band B-1.

Simeon Holloway, Navy Band B-1, Clarinetist

Simeon Holloway, a native of Gary, Indiana, was a freshman college student at the former North Carolina College for Negroes, now North Carolina Central University.

Holloway heard the Navy was recruiting students from black colleges and high schools in the area for the formation of an all-black Navy band. Holloway decided he wanted to be a part of this group and contacted Chief Bandmaster C. E. Dudrow. “I submitted my application and played my clarinet for Dudrow,”178 recalled Holloway. Holloway was selected for service in the Navy’s all-black band, successfully passed the physical examination, and was sent to Raleigh, North Carolina to meet with other recruited members of the newly formed Navy Band B-1.

Alex Albright, Navy Band B-1, Historian

Alex Albright, historian of the Navy Band B-1, is a retired associate professor of

English at East Carolina University. Albright learned of the Navy Band B-1 as a North

Carolina resident. He began investigating its story resulting in a book titled, The

178Simeon Holloway (Former member Navy Band B-1), personal interview with the author, Las Vegas, NV: March 9, 2019, transcript available through Gregory Drane.

79 Forgotten First: B-1 and the integration of the modern Navy. Alex served as a useful resource for identifying and contacting potential participants for this study. The interview with Albright served to corroborate timelines and clarify inconsistencies. Albright also shared stories from his conversations with B-1 members who are now deceased in addition to some of the negative experiences of the B-1 members.

The Recruitment and Formation of the Navy Band B-1

The Navy’s policy regarding the inclusion of blacks for enlisted service did not support racial integration. Navy officials had publicly shared the view that they did not believe blacks were qualified to serve at any level above messmen or labor-intensive jobs. Additionally, the Navy publicly stated that their practice of segregation was aligned with current practice in American society. The Navy’s official stance was that in previous attempts to promote non-white men to higher rankings, “these men cannot maintain discipline among men of the white race over whom they may be placed.”179 Although naval policy publicly expressed resistance to racial integration, the Navy ultimately announced its intent to enlist blacks for general service in April of 1942.

The Navy’s initial movement towards racial integration for full enlistment of black Americans began with the enlistment of musicians. The Navy selected Chief

Bandmaster C.E. Dudrow, to recruit for a proposed all-black band to be stationed at the

University of North Carolina’s preflight school. Within the recruitment process, potential

Navy Band B-1 recruits were told about the idea of being an all-black Navy band which

179Nalty and MacGregor, Blacks, 136.

80 would serve at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill preflight school. Both former B-1 members expressed a connection to the idea that being a part of a black Navy band was of interest. Simeon Holloway recalled:

Low and behold, Pearl Harbor came around, and they wanted an all-black band in Chapel Hill, North Carolina for the preflight Navy training school. This is the school where pilots go to train before they actually get in a plane. The Governor (Broughton) brought them, as far as I know, and Eleanor Roosevelt had something to do with it. They wanted an all-black band; unusual…I had never seen a black sailor. Before I came back to Gary (Indiana), I made my little application and got to Dudrow, who recruited for the band, and I think I remember playing for him with one or two skills, or something, and I played my clarinet.180

When asked about his reasons for deciding to join the Navy, Morrow noted that the idea of his high school band director being a part of the all-black Navy band was a significant motivating factor. Based on being informed that his service would be in North

Carolina throughout the duration of the war, Morrow joined the Navy band along with his peers. He stated:

They came to Dudley High and talked to James B. Parsons who was our band director and we were probably the next largest band in the state and they got him to agree to join the Navy to be the director and that’s how the members of the Dudley Band found out about it; there were seven or eight of us who heard about it, talked to us about it, and we said, yeah let’s go, because they said it would be for the duration of the war.181

In addition to Morrow, nine Dudley High School band members decided they would join the Navy to become members of the all-black band under the direction of their high school band director. Recruits were told they would be able to take courses as students at the university.

180Holloway, interview. 181Calvin Morrow (Former member Navy Band B-1), personal interview with the author, Greensboro, NC: January 25, 2019, transcript available through Gregory Drane.

81 The Navy Band B-1 officially began its service with a swearing in ceremony on

May 27, 1942 in Raleigh, North Carolina. The new preflight school in Chapel Hill had opened on May 23 creating an urgent need for the band before the B-1 had even begun its training. After all of the recruits assembled in Raleigh, North Carolina, the intact unit was sent to Norfolk, Virginia to receive basic Navy Training.

The men of the Navy Band B-1 traveled by train from Raleigh to Norfolk along with other black recruits who had been admitted as messmen.182 The Norfolk Naval

Operating base had been in existence since 1917. This would be the home for the band for the duration of their training. Norfolk was the training site for black and white sailors prior to the opening of the Great Lakes Camps.

The band would experience segregation from the start of their service as they arrived in Norfolk for basic training. Due to naval policy, the B-1 required special segregated housing at the Norfolk training facilities. The band and the messmen trainees were housed in barracks isolated from the white trainees. The B-1 was assigned its own barrack. As a result, the Navy Band B-1 had little contact with other black recruits or white recruits. The segregation from white sailors, in addition to arriving as an intact unit for training, created a unique racial experience for the B-1. Since all other black sailors were assigned to the messmen and steward branch, the B-1 members found themselves even more isolated.

The Navy Band B-1 reported to training with full knowledge of their purpose, which was to be the first all-black Navy band unit. The training of the Navy Band B-1 as

182Albright, Forgotten, 65.

82 an intact unit was not typical practice for the Navy. Reporting to training as an intact unit immediately set the Navy Band B-1 apart from all other sailors training in Norfolk. It was immediately clear to all that these black men would not be a part of the messmen or steward branch where blacks were typically assigned. William Skinner, a Navy B-1

Bandsman, stated about his time in Norfolk:

We were in with a lot of other blacks now; they looked at us funny. They’d never seen or even heard of a unit that came in as a solid group. We had no contact with white sailors there. But there was a certain amount of resentment from some of the other blacks at us being college graduates and because of our pay. The folks would say, ‘they don't act like heathens; they don't act like those other niggers.183

The adversities experienced during basic training are purposefully designed to help sailors become physically fit and to adapt to naval military life. This was no different for the B-1. Physical conditioning was a big part of naval training. As with all other naval trainees, the bandsmen received training in swimming, weapons, survival skills, and more. Trumpeter Huey Lawrence said, “Training was tough. I was in condition from football, so the obstacles were no problem. I was surprised how tough it was, though. We were trained as if we were going to battle–up at 4:30 in the morning, exercising, firing guns, as well as continuously practicing our music, with the group or on our own.”184

183Albright, Forgotten, 66. 184Ibid., 67.

83

Figure 1: All Negro Band for Navy - One of the first all-Negro bands in the history of the United States Navy is undergoing instruction at the Norfolk (Virginia) Naval Training Station. The Negro musicians, shown here in formation at Norfolk, soon will report to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to act as the official band for the Navy's Preflight Training School there. Source: Official US Navy Photograph.

The Navy Band B-1’s musical instruments arrived during the latter part of their training in Norfolk as the physical training began to decrease. Baritone horn player Wray

Herring said, “Once we got our instruments, it was a different experience.”185 Dudrow was their bandmaster throughout training and conducted music rehearsals and marching drills. The B-1 rehearsals took place in a facility they referred to as the “tin can.” The B-1 members had previous marching experience prior to joining the Navy as a result of their marching band experiences in high school and college. The band began to be noticed as they drilled at the base’s main staging area. The band graduated after six weeks and

185Ibid., 68.

84 began playing for graduations on a weekly basis. Although training only lasted six weeks, the B-1’s stay in Norfolk was extended an additional three weeks as they awaited the completion of their Chapel Hill barracks.186

Figure 2: U.S. Navy B-1 Band on the steps of their barracks in Chapel Hill. Source: www.b1band.org

Service in Chapel Hill

The Navy Band B-1 experienced delays relocating to their official assignment in

Raleigh, North Carolina, as the Navy needed to prepare a separate location to serve as the base for the all-black band due to racial segregation practices in North Carolina at that time. The Navy constructed a building in the black residence area of Chapel Hill to house the B-1 during their service. Morrow stated:

186Ibid., 69.

85 After Norfolk, we were sent to Chapel Hill (North Carolina), that was our assignment, and once we arrived in Chapel Hill, it was interesting. We didn’t stay on the campus, a white University campus. They had a building that was being built for the recreation center in the black neighborhood. So, the Navy said since they can’t stay on the campus, we will finish this recreation center for you if you will let us use it, and at the end of the war, it will be yours. So that was our location.187

As a result of segregation and the University of North Carolina being closed to blacks, the Navy Band B-1 members encountered a unique dilemma while they were serving at the preflight school on campus. In addition to their barracks being off-campus in the black neighborhood, the band had to march daily from their barracks to the

University of North Carolina to perform their duties. Depending on the campus location to which they were going, the band would march one and a half to three miles to campus to raise the flag, play for the cadets, march back to their barracks for lunch since they were not allowed to eat lunch on campus, and then return for duties after lunch.

187Morrow, interview.

86

Figure 3: The Navy Band B-1 in front of their North Carolina barracks. Source: Simeon Holloway

A typical day for the band would consist of marching to campus from their barracks to play for the 8 a.m. flag-raising, then playing for the cadets as they marched to classes. While the cadets were in class, the band would practice until 10 a.m., and then play for the cadets’ march to classes again. Afterwards, the band would practice drill prior to playing for the cadets’ march to lunch. Once the cadets were at lunch, the Navy

B-1 would march back to their barracks to have lunch. In the afternoon, the band would practice until 5p.m. Although the Navy had offered transportation for the band to travel to campus, Parsons declined the offer wanting, instead, to drill his men and to show off.188

They would be seen every day by black and white residents as they marched to campus.

188Albright, 87.

87

Figure 4: The Navy Band B-1 playing for the preflight school cadets as they march to class at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Source: Pre-Flight School Band, 1944.

During their tenure in Chapel Hill, the B-1 would often perform for additional events outside of normal duties. These events included war bond rallies, concerts, cadet sporting events, and patriotic events throughout the region. As a result, smaller ensembles such as brass quintets, quartets, and jazz ensembles were formed within the B-1. One of the ensembles within the B-1, The Cloudbusters, was a 12-14-member jazz band that became popular within the region. Within months of the arrival of the B-1, The

Cloudbusters had begun playing at weekly events. The Cloudbusters would be known as the premier dance/swing band and played for numerous functions in support of the war efforts. Morrow recalled playing styles of music,

We played a little of everything. Most of the music we played were marches. John Philip Sousa – now I listen to music, my wife says to me, well you just go back all the time. We played great pieces of music; we played the marches. In the group we had a jazz band– a dance band–of fellas that played the instruments that would be a part of the dance band; we had that and did that. They played for the dances for the cadets. You name the music, we played it. We played all the great

88 music. We practiced every day. I think about some of the great pieces that we played; yesterday, we were riding along in the car and we heard, the Lone Ranger and Hopalong Cassidy–that was Tennyson’s–we played it all the time…John Philip Sousa march…we had the piccolo player that played the piccolo part.189

Figure 5: Navy Band B-1 members in the Cloudbusters pose for a photo ca. 1943. Source: http://www.rafountain.com/navy/NavyB1Main.html

As the band gained notoriety for their service, the Navy elected to acknowledge the B-1 with a formal dinner in their barracks to which the men were allowed to bring their wives and girlfriends. The Navy transported the band members’ guests from

Durham and Greensboro on charter buses. The B-1 would serve in Chapel Hill for almost

20 months before being reassigned.

189Morrow, interview.

89

Figure 6: The Cloudbusters performing for cadets and officers. Source: Pre-Flight School Band, 1944.

Racial Tensions in Chapel Hill

Racial tensions were an everyday part of the lives of the men of the Navy Band B-

1. The men recognized the discrimination they felt prior to their military enlistment, and their experiences in the Navy were similar. On many occasions, the racial tensions were intensified. Upon arrival in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, the B-1 marched from their buses to their newly constructed barracks also known as the Negro Community Center in

Raleigh, North Carolina.

90

Figure 7: Negro Navy Band Parades In Initial Appearance. Source. The Tar Heel, 4 Aug 1942. North Carolina Collection, Wilson Library, UNC-CH

The band’s initial return to North Carolina was described differently by band members. Some band members shared reflections of being cheered while others shared memories of a negative reception. Albright notes Navy Band B-1’s leader, James Parsons description of the event:

I shan’t forget it as long as I live. Just outside of town we got off our bus and were met by the officers and three companies of cadets in dress whites, like ours, and we assembled to parade into town. People started coming out on Franklin Street to see what was happening. They started jeering at us, calling us all kinds of ugly names, most of them racial slurs. They were throwing mud and rocks at us. I got cut on my cheek. At least one of the instruments was dented. My men had mud all over them. But in the midst of all that, they held their heads high. I’d never heard them play better. We played and marched right through that mob.190

190Albright, Forgotten, 84.

91 However, in his interview Calvin Morrow remembers the initial arrival differently as he was located in the middle of the band. “We marched down the street from the bus station to our quarters in the black neighborhood. You had white people on the sides, some cheering us. I didn’t feel it because I played the French horn and I was marching inside of the band. I was not on the outside. The ones on the outside said they felt people throwing mud on them, spitting on them, using unusable terms.”191 The experiences of the band members during the parade march may vary according to their positioning in the formation that day.

While serving in North Carolina, the men of the B-1 were well aware of the racial environment. They recognized that, although they were serving their country, they were still in the South and Jim Crow segregation laws applied to them – even in military uniforms. Being black men in military uniforms added to the perception that the men felt their actions would be even more scrutinized. The men of the B-1 were not allowed to eat on campus due to segregation laws. In Albright’s interview with Morrow, Morrow is quoted, “There might have been a couple of places where you could eat. Certainly not on campus, and not in downtown Chapel Hill. And you certainly wanted to be real careful if you ever left the barracks.”192 When this researcher asked Morrow about his racial experiences as a black man in the Navy while living in a segregated society, Morrow reiterated his sense of awareness of racial discrimination but he also expressed a sense of patriotism and duty while relating his lived experience to that of a prisoner:

We were there to do a job; you were there to help your country. We were at war and you just had that feeling that, well, it (racial discrimination) kind of faded into

191Morrow, interview. 192Albright, Forgotten, 76.

92 the background. You’re human–you’re not something different from everybody else; you’re just like everybody else, thinking the same way. And you’re really– it’s interesting–it’s almost like saying to someone in prison, how do you feel? Do you feel like everyone else? In reality, they are like everyone else, but they have restrictions on them; they have this, they have that. That’s how I felt; I never had qualms about it. I accepted the fact that we couldn’t go to these places. We couldn’t go and eat in this place or you had to go in the back door. You just accepted it and moved on and did the best you could, like we do now. If you don’t have the money like rich people, you do the best you can and keep moving. But you still know that there is a problem with society and in this country the way it is.193

When asked why he entered the Navy knowing that the Navy was segregated,

Morrow further expressed his sense of patriotism as a black American citizen:

Let me share this with you. It’s interesting, you know, we have two different situations in this country. I’m just going to use black and white now, the rest is in between. Even though you’re black, even though you’re white, we felt that this is our country. That is all we’ve ever known. If you have any human part about (you), you are proud of who you are and where you come from. And even though we have black over us, I think about how we marched when we first came to Chapel Hill. You had some boos and that kind of thing. But we have lived, and this is our country even though we have not had the opportunity. It’s just a part of you and you can’t separate that from real life. Real life is I’m a citizen of this country, this is all I have ever known, and I don’t care what you say, and this is what it is; my country, just like it is your country, even if you are of another race.194

Although the men of the B-1 felt racial tensions regularly, there were moments that created a sense of pride as they felt they were representatives of the black American community. Calvin Morrow recalled, “Every morning, we march from that building to the preflight school, which was a part of University of North Carolina’s campus. And it was interesting because, as we would march in the morning, you would see black kids just line the streets. We would use a cadence and some music once in a while, but they

193Morrow, interview. 194Morrow, interview.

93 would just come out, just thrilled, to see these black sailors because there was no such thing, no such thing…”195

Simeon Holloway expressed his recollections about being a black sailor. “To me,

I had never seen. I didn’t know too much about integration. I didn’t know what a mess attendant was. This was crazy. I knew it was something new, something outstanding, and me, being a black sailor, I’d never seen a black sailor in my life.”196

Reassignment to Hawaii

Throughout their recruitment, B-1 recruits were told they would serve in Chapel

Hill, North Carolina for the duration of the war. However, after being stationed in North

Carolina for almost 20 months, the B-1 was reassigned to Hawaii where it was stationed for the remaining time of service. James Parsons had taken over as the band’s leader from

Dudrow once the B-1 began active service. The men of the B-1 were not pleased to learn of their reassignment. Many of the band members began to suspect their band leader

James Parsons orchestrated the reassignment, as he had just returned from a visit to

Washington, D.C. prior to the reassignment notification. In early 1944, Parsons had traveled to take classes at the Navy School of Music for almost five weeks.197 “When we found out we were leaving, it was hard to accept. I was very sad, hurt, and disappointed.

195Morrow, interview. 196Holloway, interview. 197Albright, Forgotten, 106

94

We’d been misled and lied to,” said William Skinner.198 Charles Woods said, “I felt we’d been betrayed. We felt like [going to] Pearl Harbor was going into combat.”199

The transport from Chapel Hill to Pearl Harbor was a long journey. The movement of the B-1 included a bus trip to Durham, North Carolina to board a train that would take them across the country to Shoemaker, California. The train took an indirect route to California which led the men to believe they were lost. After almost a week of traveling by train, the Navy Band B-1 arrived in Shoemaker, California and the men would wait nearly another week for sea transport into the Pacific Theater. Morrow recalled his experiences as the B-1 traveled to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii:

We boarded the ship going to Hawaii, an old Dutch freighter, just regular old freighter they had made into a troop ship where they just put in a lot of bunks, a dining room – I wouldn’t call it a dining room just somewhere you would eat. And that ship carried us across the Pacific, not like a big cruise ship, but it bounced up and down, up and down, all the way across. And if you didn’t have a good stomach, most of the fellas were hanging out over the deck and in the bathrooms; we call it the head. They couldn’t hold anything in their stomach, but I didn’t ever get sick…but that was an experience we had.200

Simeon Holloway did not elaborate on details of his experiences on the sea voyage to Pearl Harbor, but he recalled that many of his band members, including others on the transport were sick throughout the voyage due to the ship movements through the ocean. Holloway expressed, “We got on this transport—it was terrible! There were guys in the transport who were sick the whole time, five days, to Hawaii. It was terrible!”

Upon arrival to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in May of 1944, the men of the B-1 did not know what to expect. It had been communicated to them that they would be the admiral’s

198Ibid., 102. 199Ibid. 200Morrow, interview.

95 band, but it appeared to them that no one had expected the band to be black. Not having their instruments did not help their situation. Albright documented Parson’s perspective of the B-1’s arrival in Hawaii, “We arrived at the break of day and we were still in the same place at dusk,”201 Morrow said, “We were supposed to go to Hawaii as the admiral’s band but they found out we were black, so they just put us away at Manana

Barracks. Somebody met us when we came, I forgot who, but he asked where the band was. Man, they were floored. So, we were relegated off to the hills.”202

Just outside of Pearl City, Manana was a growing base for black naval servicemen that would eventually house over 4,000 black American sailors for the United States

Navy. A majority of the black naval servicemen were carpenters, mechanics, stewards, and stevedores (dock workers). Manana supplied the labor for loading and unloading all the ships going through Pearl Harbor; it was, essentially, a small city of black sailors who provided work force labor for Pearl Harbor. Calvin Morrow had expectations that the

Navy Band B-1 would be entering a racially integrated base. Morrow expressed mixed emotions as he recalled his first experiences in Manana and seeing all of the black sailors as labor force in Hawaii:

That was another interesting case because we thought that we were going to be the admiral’s band and that it would be different. But when we got there, all blacks. It was kind of a depressing kind of feeling but, at the same time, we were not a part of handling playing music for them (black sailors in Manana) like we did the cadets in Chapel Hill. It was kind of a funny feeling. We were just like they were, but we were not doing the same thing. When we thought we were going to be integrated into the regular Navy, we were part of the regular Navy, but that was just our assignment, sent to this place where they had nothing but stevedores, and a little city called Pearl City, out from Pearl Harbor.203

201Albright, Forgotten, 106. 202Ibid. 203Morrow, interview.

96

It did not take long for the men of the B-1 to realize that they were closer to the hazards of war. On May 21, 1944 the band witnessed an incident when Landing Ships,

Tanks (referred to as LST) began to explode. “We were docking and these ships started blowing up. We were just getting in and all of a sudden there were these explosions everywhere,” said William Gibson, a French horn player in the Navy Band B-1.204 Calvin

Morrow recalled similar memories of the experience in the interview for this study,

“There were seven LSTs, small ships that carried ammunition and soldiers, we saw each one of those things blow up. They just blew up one by one. We were a long ways away, but you could see. I saw some bodies go up, and when it was all over, there were about

15-16 people killed. You know how you don’t release that, but that’s what happened while we were on the docks.”205 The details of the incident were not publicly shared at the time. The incident was known as the West Loch incident. Samuel Elliot Morison, historian of naval operations during World War II, documented that the West Loch incident resulted in 163 deaths with 396 injured.206

Because the Navy Band B-1 was an all-black unit and arrived without their instruments, many assumed that they were a part of the labor force. As a result, the bandsmen were assigned to kitchen, construction, and maintenance duties such as painting and cutting bamboo on nearby Pali Mountain.207 This resulted in 16 days of

204Albright, Forgotten, 109. 205Morrow, interview. 206Samuel Eliot Morison, History of the United States Naval Operations in World War II |Volume 8: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944 (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2011), 171. 207Albright, Forgotten, 111.

97 manual labor until their instruments arrived and the band got into their musical routine.

With their instruments available, the band began playing at officer clubs, daily flag raisings, for visiting dignitaries, and regimental reviews. Huey Lawrence said, “Playing for servicemen on the ships was the best part of Hawaii. They really appreciated it and treated us royally. They didn't show any prejudice. We were entertainers.”208

Figure 8: Manana Meteors performing a concert.209 Source: Simeon Holloway.

Once the bandsmen had their instruments, their daily activities changed drastically. The band was back to regularly practicing and performing. They formed a swing band and named the group the Manana Meteors. The Meteors became a popular group and performed regularly. The bandsmen also formed a second swing band called

208Albright, Forgotten, 113. 209Performances by the swing bands of the B-1 would also include performances by various smaller ensembles from the group such as instrumental trios and quartets. In addition, the band members performed vocal arrangements and it was not unusual for band members to perform comedy skits during events. Often, performances would also include a dance contest for the audience.

98 the Moonglowers. The Moonglowers was comprised of the bandsmen who played on their secondary instruments and were not in the Manana Meteors. The B-1 and its swing bands would play for live radio shows at least once a month. The Meteors made several recordings for the Armed Forces Radio Service. The full B-1 band also made a recording, but many of the recordings of the B-1 and their swing bands did not survive the war. As a result of their demanding performance schedule, the bandsmen had very little free time.

When not performing or rehearsing, the bandsmen would have free time in the evenings in addition to one day of free time per week.

The Hawaiian Islands were a major military staging area for the Pacific, although it was also a location for soldiers to go for rest and relaxation. As a result, there was a constant need for soldiers to be entertained. The movie theatre t was originally intended to be used on Friday nights but, eventually, was used every night of the week. The swing bands of the B-1 would perform prior to each movie. They would rotate different performers for each night. The full B-1 band played for football and baseball games, wrestling and boxing matches, parades, bond rallies, and ships’ embarkation and debarkation, in addition to regular concerts and the swing band performances. The bandsmen even created their own vocal groups as they were also diversifying their music.

One of the largest events at which the B-1 performed was the celebration of the end of the war–the V-J (Victory over Japan) Day parade in Honolulu.210 The parade occurred over the Labor Day weekend in August of 1945. “They got every marching unit they

210Albright, Forgotten, 128.

99 could get,” said Abe Thurman. “We must have marched for three hours that day. I think we marched through every street in Honolulu.”211

The end of the war commenced the end of service for the B-1. The B-1 was gradually disbanded. The bandsmen would continue to perform throughout August, but by October, a new 17-piece band arrived to replace the B-1. The process for selection to return home, known as “mustering out,” was based on a military point system with married men receiving priority. The last B-1 bandsmen would not leave Hawaii until early 1946.

Racial Tensions in Hawaii

The growing number of black American naval servicemen presented a unique challenge. The Navy was enlisting more black Americans than ever during this time.

While the Navy had officially opened enlistment for all naval jobs, the navy was still operating under the past practices of placing black Americans only in service and labor jobs. This approach resulted in college-educated blacks serving in menial jobs which created dissatisfaction amongst the black servicemen. Additionally, the Navy continued the practice of segregation between the black and white servicemen. Upon arriving in

Pearl City, Hawaii, the men of the B-1 unfortunately realized they were still a part of a segregated Navy. Racial tensions in Hawaii presented a different sort of challenge for the

Navy Band B-1. The racial prejudices the men experienced were from naval personnel but not from the islanders. Morrow stated, “We were a black band there in Hawaii where

211Albright, Forgotten, 128.

100 it was not segregated, but it was segregated wherever the Americans went, they wanted to be segregated, but the rest of the island was just open.”212 The men felt as if the racism was imported by the white sailors to the island.

During World War II, Hawaii had become a large military site for the U.S. government. Although the number of servicemen in Hawaii was a military secret, estimates of soldiers stationed in Hawaii included 79,000 Marines; 253,000 Army servicemen; and 137,000 Navy servicemen on base, with another 550,000 Navy sailors

“afloat.”213 Within the population of sailors in Hawaii, the Navy had enlisted thousands of blacks for service in the Pacific as Seabees (men in the Navy’s construction battalion).

Approximately 4,000 black naval men were housed at Manana.

The construction of the Manana Barracks was a part of the Navy’s reaction to racial tensions throughout Hawaii that had been documented in “The Negro Problem in the 14th Naval District,” compiled by the Navy’s counter-intelligences office in 1943.214

The Navy admitted that the racial tensions were a result of the discontent of black sailors, including the Seabees, messmen, and stevedores primarily because so many were skilled in certain trades and were led to believe that they would be provided opportunities for advancement. However, they had only been engaged in stevedore work.215

An additional contributing factor to racial tensions was related to the assignment of white southern officers to command black naval units because they knew “how to deal with blacks.” The commanding officers of the all-black Manana Barracks was Lieutenant

212Morrow, interview. 213Albright, Forgotten, 99. 214Ibid., 100. 215Byers, Study, 236.

101 Commander Grady Avant. Avant was known for his cruel, discriminatory approach.

Extremely brutal discipline was ordered by Lieutenant Commander Avant, who once struck a black enlisted man with a missile, shouting, “This is the first time I’ve hit a nigger since I left Mississippi.”216 Under Avant’s orders, barbed wire and armed guards surrounded the all-black Manana barracks under the pretense it was for the protection of the sailors.

The Navy Band B-1 arrived to Manana barracks while Lieutenant Commander

Avant was still in command. Albright quoted Huey Lawrence’s experience as a B-1 bandsman while serving under Lieutenant Commander Avant:

Grady Avant ran a concentration camp. They had shotgun guards patrolling. They had barbed wire fence up on the pretense he was protecting people from coming in, but the way it leaned in, we knew better. There were two gates, both manned by armed guards. He wouldn't let blacks have beards. He said we looked like monkeys, so a couple of us had to get special permission. I had a goatee because it kept my bottom lip from getting chapped. But he was doing the things he knew. He finally slapped a guy, not one of ours, and they broke him down in rank.217

Calvin Morrow shared similar negative experiences while Lieutenant Commander

Avant was in command. “All of the officers were bad. Anytime somebody was sent to be in charge of an all-black camp, it was like being sent down. Like going to the boondocks.

But we learned to deal with it. If I knew you’re a SOB, I learned to deal with it.”218

Lieutenant Commander Avant was eventually relieved of his command. Lieutenant

Commander George D. Stern assumed command and conditions for black sailors began to improve.219 Privileges were provided, the armed guards were removed, a turnover of

216Ibid. 217Albright, Forgotten, 126. 218Ibid. 219Byers, Study, 237.

102 white officers occurred, and promotions were given to black officers under Stern’s leadership.

Alex Albright, a historian of the Navy Band B-1 has spent years talking with the

B-1 bandsmen. In an interview for this study, Albright shared that there are many stories of prejudice and discrimination the bandsmen simply do not talk about often. Alex communicated, “they don’t talk a lot about that; I’ve talked to over half of those guys, and I’ve heard stories that were corroborated with other stories, just the names they were called and not getting served. But did they get in fights? It happened; they just don’t talk about it.”220 As an example of the regular day-to-day racial tensions the bandsmen experienced while in Hawaii, Albright shared another experience that the bandsmen do not talk about publicly. “They had a white officer who had a dog whose name was

Nigger, so this guy can go out and yell, ‘here Nigger Nigger,’ and do it loudly…it was always another problem; it was always pushed back as the black guy was being blamed for it. It was that kind of antagonism.”221

By V-J Day, the Navy had progressed into a more racially integrated organization that included policies which aligned with racial integration. The practice of segregation in the Navy proved to be inefficient and an ineffective use of resources. The discrimination that black naval servicemen were encountering towards the end of the war was a result of the unwillingness of commanders to carry out naval orders.222 The Navy took additional steps to facilitate the integration of black servicemen and set forth policies in the Guide to

220Alex Albright (Historian of the Navy Band B-1), personal interview with the author, Fountain, NC: January 26, 2019, transcript available through Gregory Drane. 221Albright, interview. 222Byers, Study, 238.

103 the Command of Negro Personnel. During the war, the Navy discovered that the efficient utilization of its manpower necessitated the abolition of all racial restrictions.223

Reflections of the Surviving Navy Band B-1 Members

After serving in the United States Navy over 70 years ago, the men of the B-1 have expressed mixed feelings related to their experiences in the Navy. They expressed feelings of disappointment with how they were treated in the Navy, in addition to feelings of patriotism and pride in their accomplishments. The B-1 bandsmen were aware of the fact that they were entering into service during wartime but expressed a sense of excitement to be a part of something new; the first all-black Navy band. They were well aware of the potential prejudices and discrimination they would face but believed that their service would contribute to creating better conditions for blacks in America.

The men of the Navy Band B-1 felt racial tensions regularly during their time of service, but there were moments that created a sense of pride for being a black bandsman in the Navy. They felt that they were representatives of the black American community.

Simeon Holloway expressed his recollections about being a black sailor: “To me, I had never seen…I didn’t know too much about integration. I didn’t know what a mess attendant was. This was crazy. I knew it was something new, something outstanding and me, being a black sailor, I’d never seen a black sailor in my life.”224 Within his reflections, Holloway expressed his conflicting feelings of discrimination while serving

223Byers, Study, 238a. 224Holloway, interview.

104 in a segregated Navy as being mistreated by the Navy. When Holloway discovered that the Navy did not have records of the B-1, he expressed disappointment with having to provide records and documents as proof of service to verify that the B-1 existed. In his efforts to find additional proof of the B-1 for Navy administrators at the time, Holloway wrote to President George W. Bush, who was known to have been a cadet at the preflight school during the time of B-1’s service (see Appendix F). Unfortunately, President

Bush’s reply stated that he did not recall the B-1 (see Appendix G).

Calvin Morrow recalled moments of pride during his time stationed in North Carolina:

Every morning, we marched from that building to the preflight school which was a part of University of North Carolina’s campus. And it was interesting because as we would march in the morning, you would see black kids just line the streets. We would use a cadence and some music once in a while, but they would just come out just thrilled to see these black sailors because there was no such thing, no such thing…225

Also, when asked about his reasons for entering a segregated Navy, Morrow expressed his sense of patriotism as a black American:

Even though you are black, even though you are white, this what we felt, that this is our country. That is all we have ever known. If you have any human part about, you are proud of who you are and where you come from. And even though we have black over us, I think about how we marched when we first came to Chapel Hill, you had some boos and that kind of thing, but we have lived, and this is our country even though we have not had the opportunity, it’s just a part of you and you can’t separate that from real life. Real life is that I’m a citizen of this country, this is all I have ever known, and I don’t care what you say, and this is what it is, my country, just like it is your country, even though if you are of the another race, you don’t think that it’s like that… this is my home, this is all I’ve ever known, and how I feel. You say, how do you feel? You feel just like everybody else; you know there are some limitation because you are a part of it, but still, you are human just like everybody else and you can’t get away from it.226

225Morrow, interview. 226Morrow, interview.

105 The men of the B-1 did not attend any Navy School of Music. They were not permitted to attend the Navy School of Music as it was not open to blacks at the time of their formation. This was partly because the B-1 was formed before the Great Lakes

Camps had been established, which is where many blacks would eventually receive naval music training. When asked if the B-1 bandsmen received musical training in the Navy,

Holloway responded, “Not with music. Great Lakes hadn’t even been thought of, well it may have been thought of, before the training for blacks started back in those days. So, we just trained ourselves, well not trained because I played clarinet in high school. But basic training in the Navy for musicians (B-1 bandsmen), there was none.”227 As a result, the B-1 never received naval musical training outside of the instruction they received from their assigned bandmasters.

Through searches for information regarding the service of the Navy Band B-1, the bandsmen discovered that the Navy did not keep accurate records of their service.

Therefore, the men of the B-1 collectively submitted documents to prove to the Navy administrators that the band existed. As a result, the surviving members of the B-1 received an honorary degree from the Navy School of Music in 1981.

227Holloway, interview.

106

Figure 9: Honorary Certificate of completion from the Navy School of Music. Source: Simeon Holloway.

The legacy of the Navy Band B-1 is one that is not known nationally but is ever- present in the Chapel Hill, North Carolina community where they were first stationed.

There are numerous historical markers erected in honor of the B-1 throughout the Chapel

Hill area. The men of the B-1 recognize their legacy through the people they have inspired throughout each of their lives. When Holloway was asked about the legacy of the Navy Band B-1, he proudly responded, “We were a part of history, not only black history, but American history.”228 When asked about his thoughts on the legacy of the B-

1, Calvin Morrow shared,

228Holloway, interview.

107

There was a little girl I was a principal of in 5th grade, these years afterwards, finished the 5th grade in my school, went on to high school, went on to college, and I heard from her about two years ago. Her mother called me and said, ‘Calvin, my daughter is a captain of a destroyer in Norfolk, Virginia and she wanted to tell you hello.’ As a result of what you started years ago, think about what it has meant to my daughter, a woman being a captain of a destroyer.” I was shocked…But that’s the kind of thing you had across this country. As a result of that little bit we did and what everybody else was doing, you think about the United States of America, we would have never thought we would have a black president and those little things like being in the Navy, And you start breaking those things down; the Tuskegee Airmen, breaking that down, all of those small things built up and, as a result if you ask me what kind of effect we had, we had a black president, we have more black people in Congress, and I’m just saying blacks now, they’re regular Americans and think about what we have rights now.229

While sharing his thoughts on the legacy of the B-1 and their contributions in integrating the Navy, Holloway also expressed a sense of pride,

Blacks have become Admirals and Lieutenants. A friend of mine became an Admiral and Commander of a ship. That makes you feel very, very good. And basically we started as mess attendants back in those days and it just kept on going. It’s come a long way, a black President, things have turned upside down. Things have come a long way since ’42.230

Around 1956, surviving members of the Navy Band B-1 decided to have a reunion to celebrate their naval service with each other and their families and friends.

Their first reunion was held in Chapel Hill. Throughout the years, it has been held in various cities, but the majority of the reunions have been hosted in Chapel Hill. As many members of the Navy Band B-1 are now deceased, the annual reunion still continues through friends and family of the band members.

229Morrow, interview. 230Holloway, interview.

108

Chapter 7

Discussion

History of the Navy Band B-1

The idea of black Americans having to “fight for the right to fight” during wartime has been a recurring theme throughout American history. Many black leaders believed that serving the nation during wartime would promote better conditions for blacks throughout the country by the conclusion of the war. As America prepared to enter

World War II, pressure from black community leaders to provide black Americans the opportunity to serve in significant roles within the military reached President Franklin D.

Roosevelt. Racial discrimination in America had become an issue of national security.

Faced with a potential shortage of military personnel, President Roosevelt elected to increase the number of black Americans in the armed forces. The demand to increase enlistment across all military branches steered government leaders and military administrators to reevaluate past practices of racial discrimination. The political and societal pressure to provide black Americans with equal rights and equal opportunities became a central issue to be addressed as a part of resolving the shortage of military personnel.

President Roosevelt emerged as a central figure for racial integration of the

United States Armed Forces. The initial movement for the racial integration of the

109 military and full inclusion of black Americans in military service evolved into a political conflict led by President Roosevelt and black American community leaders. The idea to end the practice of racial segregation in the military was met with resistance from military leaders. The United States Navy intensely resisted the efforts towards racial integration and expressed the view that the roles of black Americans in the Navy should remain the same – messmen and stewards, only.

Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox strongly opposed the idea of open enlistment for blacks in the Navy. Secretary Knox publicly expressed his ideas that blacks did not have the capacity to serve in any role in the Navy outside of the duties of cooking and cleaning. Knox claimed that any service at sea other than cooking or serving food lay beyond the capabilities of nonwhites.231 Major General Thomas Holcomb, Commandant of the Marines, echoed Secretary Knox’s stance stating, “the Negro race has every opportunity now to satisfy its aspirations for combat in the Army, a very much larger organization than the Navy or Marine Corps, and their desire to enter the naval service is largely, I think, an effort to break into a club that doesn’t want them.”232

President Roosevelt pressed forward with his agenda to end discrimination in the military and issued Executive Order 8802 in June of 1941. Secretary Knox continued to resist the President’s orders and released an official statement on behalf of the Navy:

“The Navy insists even more strongly that it cannot take a chance on a social experiment.

Since racial integration of naval units implies much more than in any other service, the

Navy feels that it cannot justly be expected to be so far ahead of the nation’s general

231Astor, Right to Fight, 159. 232MacGregor, World War II, 64.

110 habits in racial matters as the advocates of full integration.”233 An increase of political pressure combined with the need for additional naval personnel in preparation for World

War II forced the Navy to eventually change its stance on the matter and move towards open enlistment for blacks. Although the enlistment of blacks increased, the Navy still maintained its practice of segregated service.

The Navy’s first steps towards racial integration can be traced to a 1941 meeting involving President Roosevelt, nationally recognized black community leaders, Secretary

Knox, and other military administrators. The original idea to form an all-black Navy band is associated with comments made by President Roosevelt to end discrimination in the military. In an attempt to compromise, Roosevelt stated, “We’ve got some good Negro bands in the Navy. Why don’t we make a beginning by putting some of these bands aboard battleships? White and Negro men aboard ships will thereby learn to know and respect each other and then we can move on from there.”234 Secretary Knox agreed to explore the idea.

As a result, the Navy eventually made efforts to enlist black Americans to serve in all naval jobs with direct efforts made to integrate blacks into the naval music tradition.

The idea of focusing on Navy bands as a means to move toward integration prompted the formation of the Navy Band B-1. It is unknown which all-black bands President

Roosevelt may have been referring to in his statement, “We’ve got some good Negro

Bands in the Navy,” as there were not any records of all-black Navy bands at the time of his statement. It is plausible to believe that President Roosevelt may have been referring

233Astor, Right to Fight, 160. 234Cross, Sailors, 166.

111 to Alton Augustus Adams and his band which was recruited into naval service in the U.S.

Virgin Islands in 1917. Adams retired in 1934 prior to America’s involvement in World

War II but was later recalled to active duty after the start of the war.

The inception of the Navy Band B-1 is linked to J. Melville Broughton, governor of North Carolina from 1941 to 1945, and his political ties with President Roosevelt.

Broughton had learned of the government’s intent to build four preflight schools on university campuses in support of the war efforts. Broughton lobbied for the placement of a preflight school at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Although unclear, it seems plausible that Governor Broughton was aware of President Roosevelt’s intent to integrate the Navy with black musicians. Broughton worked with university presidents throughout North Carolina, Navy officials, and both black and white community leaders in order to create an all-black Navy band to serve at the preflight school. The state of

North Carolina had a history of black musical talent steeped in the tradition of the state’s

Historically Black Colleges. Once it was approved for the University of North Carolina to house a Navy preflight school, Navy officials began the recruiting process to create an all-black band.

It was the Navy’s intent to recruit the entire North Carolina A&T College Band, but only some of the recruited members were able to pass the physical examination. As a result, the Navy expanded its recruitment to additional black colleges and high schools in

North Carolina. The Navy ultimately selected twenty-five men who attended North

Carolina A&T in Greensboro; four who attended North Carolina College in Durham; three who attended the Hampton Institute in Hampton, Virginia; one who attended

Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina; one who attended South

112 Carolina State in Orangeburg; seven students from Dudley High School, in Greensboro,

North Carolina; two students from Hillside High School in Durham, North Carolina; in addition to one band member whose educational background is not listed. The director of the Dudley High School Band, James B. Parsons, who earned a degree from Millikin

University, was selected to serve as the bandmaster for the Navy Band B-1.

On May 27, 1942, forty-four recruits for the Navy Band B-1 were sworn into service for the U.S. Navy. Band members were then sent to basic training as an intact unit. Selecting and training an intact unit was not a typical practice of the Navy at the time, but it did contribute greatly to the success of the group. Upon completion of basic training, the Navy Band B-1 reported for duty in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on July 31,

1942, where it served for almost two years. In May of 1944, the band was reassigned to

Hawaii and remained there until the end of the war. The bandsmen completed their individual military service while stationed in Hawaii. The last B-1 serviceman departed

Hawaii in early 1946.

The story of the Navy Band B-1 as the first all-black band during World War II is relatively unknown outside of friends and family of the band members and the Chapel

Hill community. As Navy records were not well-kept at the time, the service of the Navy

Band B-1 is largely unrecognized within the military music tradition. For many years, the designation of the first black musicians to serve in World War II was inaccurately assigned to black sailors who completed training at Camp Robert Smalls of the Great

Lakes Camps in the Navy’s Negro School of Music. However, the men of the Navy Band

B-1 were already in full-service prior to the opening of the Great Lakes Camps. The

Navy formally acknowledged the service of the B-1 and recognized surviving members

113 with honorary certificates of graduation from the Navy School of Music almost forty years after the completion of their service.

Conclusions

I first became aware of the Navy Band B-1 through a conversation with a fellow graduate student at Penn State, who also happened to be a North Carolina A&T band alumnus. During that conversation, the B-1 was referred to as the Negro Navy Band, the common name often communicated amongst the black community in North Carolina. In

1942, North Carolina A&T band members formed the nucleus of the B-1 and their story would become a part of the oral tradition that has been passed down through A&T band members and throughout the Historically Black College & University (HBCU) band communities in the southern region of the United States. My initial search for information about the Negro Navy Band led to the discovery of the band’s official name, The Navy

Band B-1, and information regarding the B-1’s annual reunion, which I attended in

August of 2014. However, the band members and family refer to them as the B-1 Navy

Band. In a personal conversation with a retired black naval bandsman who regularly participates in the B-1’s reunion, he posed an interesting question regarding the hyphen in

B-1. He suggested that it was not typical practice of the Navy in naming bands and it is plausible that the hyphen may have been added at some point afterwards. I was unable to find any information regarding the hyphen in B-1.

I was granted the opportunity to meet five of eight surviving B-1 members, as well as their family and friends, at the 72nd Anniversary Celebration Banquet at the

114 Hargraves Recreation Center, the former barracks for the B-1, in Chapel Hill, North

Carolina. During my time with the members, I expressed a desire to learn more about the

B-1 and their military service and I was openly welcomed and referred to as a “new B-1 family member.” I felt connected with the bandsmen; they were pioneers of racial integration which related to me, personally, being one of the first black Americans in my role as a band director at a predominantly white university.

Each evening during the reunion, the B-1 members would gather and share stories of their time in naval service. As one B-1 member shared his version of a story, other members interjected their own recollections. There was one former band member in attendance who, even though he lost his vision over time, possesd an uncanny ability to recall very specific details surrounding the events and experiences of the B-1. The bandsmen would regularly defer to each other to share additional details of their stories.

Through these meaningful and intriguing conversations, I left the reunion with a sense of urgency to document and share the story of the Navy Band B-1. By the start of this research study, there were only three surviving members left. It was not until I took a deeper look into the service of the B-1 that the uniqueness of its story was truly uncovered.

115

Figure 10: 72nd Anniversary Celebration Banquet at the Hargraves Recreation Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina Navy Band B-1 members seated in front row. Source: Gregory Drane

The specific purpose and establishment of the Navy Band B-1 was to initiate the racial integration of the United States Navy. The Navy’s reluctance to fully integrate blacks into service, combined with preparations to fully enter World War II, did not create welcoming conditions for blacks who elected to join the Navy. Incongruent with the intent to fully integrate the B-1 into naval service, the B-1 served a a segregated unit.

However, the B-1’s strong sense of purpose in becoming an all-black band, the uniqueness of training as an intact unit, and serving together for over four years created deep social bonds amongst the bandsmen and helped to counteract the negative

116 conditions they experienced. The connection of the members of the B-1 played a significant role in their success as an all-black band serving in a then-segregated Navy.

The B-1 bandsmen were well aware that their recruitment and service was atypical.

Additionally, the B-1 bandsmen felt as if their service could either create opportunities or destroy hopes of future opportunities for other black Americans in the military. As a result, the B-1 bandsmen felt extreme pressure to perform their duties and serve at higher levels of expectation because they believed they represented all blacks in America.

The reflections of the B-1 bandsmen presented a great sense of pride in their accomplishments and service as the first all-black Navy band of World War II. At the time of enlistment, the men were not aware of the surrounding events and actions that led to the formation of the B-1. They expressed a sense of excitement to serve their country as an all-black band and were proud to serve, particularly during wartime, but also conveyed feeling disheartened as they reflected on how they were treated by their country. “Even though we were segregated,” Morrow expressed, “we marched back and forth every day. The whites were living on this side of town; we were on that side of town. We were there to do a job; you were there to help your country. We were at war and you just had that feeling that, well, it (racism) kind of faded into the background.”235

When Holloway was asked to reflect on his military service, he stated,

Well, basically, being black I feel mistreated. I was segregated the whole time we were there, not knowing what was going to happen. I felt cheated, not only when we got in band – the Navy didn’t do nothing about it, basically. After forty years being out of the service, this friend of ours went to the School of Music to find out about this all-black band, and they knew nothing about it. This is forty years later, nothing at all! So, we were just mistreated, that’s all.236

235Morrow, interview. 236Holloway, interview.

117

However, in his statements regarding receiving acknowledgment from the Navy School of Music forty years later, Holloway states, “Well, I think the letter from the School of

Music, now, we’ve made progress. I feel good. It’s all open, it’s out, it’s good, and we feel good about it. And we feel we’ve made progress for the United States, period.”237 I interpreted this as a sense of internal conflict within the bandsmen, which appeared to stem from a strong sense of American patriotism paired with disappointment that racial discrimination was overwhelmingly present during their service.

In talking specifically with former B-1 members, Calvin Morrow and Simeon

Holloway, I interpreted that both men believe that their service in the Navy was a small contribution to the advancement of all blacks in America. Both men mentioned contemporary examples of the accomplishments of black Americans that would not have been achievable in 1942 when the Navy Band B-1 was formed. Morrow shared,

One thing I can say is that we have lived from 1942 to now, about seventy some years. I’ve seen strict, nasty segregation back during that time. I’ve seen it change; Martin Luther King and that move in ‘65 on through. We’ve seen progress made in America, whole lot of progress. At the same time, we know we still have a long ways to go. I feel that by us being a part of the integrating of the Navy and Tuskegee Airmen and all the other things…I guess bringing us in first, and then they said, well you know we can use these (guys) the same way. So, the progress we made was the beginning of a whole lot of progress that has been made since then.238

Morrow expressed additional instances of progress for all blacks in America. Morrow stated,

You think about the United States of America, we would have never thought we would have a black president and those little things like being in the Navy, and you start breaking those things down…the Tuskegee Airmen, breaking that down.

237Ibid. 238Morrow, interview.

118 All of those small things built up and, as a result, you ask me what kind of effect; we had a black president, we have more black people in Congress and, I’m just saying, blacks now, they’re regular Americans. And think about what we have right now. I think about Kamala Harris – it was on TV last night – she is a Congresswoman, she is Attorney General of California, she is running for President.239

Both men also referred to my professional career as a black marching band director at a predominantly white university as a black historical achievement that they did not believe could have occurred in 1942. Holloway, in expressions of pride stated,

“The mere fact that this young man from Pennsylvania is doing this is outstanding. I’m just proud of you. It makes you feel good. Let the world know that ‘WE’ came this way.”240 In this moment, I felt that their musical and historical contributions paved the way for my own professional opportunities.

Discovering the story of the Navy Band B-1 and their accomplishments created a sense of pride within myself as well as disappointment with the conditions they faced while in the service of the Navy and upon their return from the war. I also experienced frustration that the story of the B-1 was unknown to me. While many of their personal stories were intriguing, their challenges of dealing with racial discrimination as black men in America aligned with a traditional narrative amongst most black Americans, including my own. Being one of a few blacks in a majority white environment creates a great sense of responsibility to serve as a representative of the entire black community.

Consequently, there is great pressure to be at your very best at all times due to the belief that many will form opinions of all black people as a result of your actions. There is a

239Ibid. 240Holloway, interview.

119 conviction that any errors or mistakes on your part could result in blacks not receiving deserved opportunities in the future. Much like myself today, the men of the B-1 in the early 1940s were also well aware of the additional pressure for them to serve successfully without incident with the intent to facilitate creating more opportunities for blacks.

There are many historical lessons from the racial integration of the U.S. Navy that can provide perspectives on current issues in society. It is important for us, as a society, to be able to look to history in order to investigate how similar issues were handled in the past. Currently, there are efforts being made by predominantly white institutions and universities to increase diversity within their student populations, faculty, and administration. History reveals that the Navy was resistant to racial integration and it took efforts from the nation’s highest office, the President of the United States, to force the

Navy to comply. However, it also took collaborative efforts between the Navy, state and local governments, in addition to both black and white community leaders outside of the

Navy to move racial integration forward.

While predominantly white institutions and universities communicate that they are open to increasing diversity, there is an additional need for both collaboration and inclusion of perspectives from entities outside of the institutions, for the purpose of increasing diversity. For example, once blacks were admitted into the Navy, Navy administrators discovered a need to revise policies and practices to accommodate the arrival of the greater number of blacks amongst the naval ranks. Many new policies included blacks serving in new positions – positions which were never made available to them before. The need to revise naval policies and practices, unfortunately, came as a result of racial conflicts and dissatisfied black servicemen. In order for current

120 institutions to achieve a positive impact in the area of diversity, there is a need to reevaluate, revise, and implement policies and practices that accommodate the diverse populations they seek to attract. It is imperative to recognize that current predominantly white institutions were historically not open to diversity amongst their population and this, in turn, has contributed to the current lack of diversity. Therefore, greater, more evolved efforts are needed to counteract the historical narratives of these institutions for the purpose of increasing inclusion.

In the instance of the Navy Band B-1, the Navy took an active role in recruiting the band members and dedicated additional resources to accomplish the goal of creating an all-black Navy band. The Navy appointed a recruiter who also oversaw the training of the B-1. Segregation dictated that barracks be constructed to house the B-1 bandsmen and additional resources were allocated to accommodate their needs. The aforementioned resources were essential in setting up the B-1 for successful service. Taking an active role in recruiting from diverse populations to predominantly white institutions is essential to increasing diversity. Additional resources related to diversity recruitment and provisions to accommodate the diverse population once they are admitted are necessities.

As the Navy began enlisting more blacks for service, there was also an increase in racial tensions within the organization. Segregated service and the practice of only assigning blacks to labor jobs led to dissatisfied black servicemen. The Navy acknowledged these issues and investigated the causes. As a result, the Navy changed policies and addressed past practices in order to alleviate the issues. The Navy discovered that attitudes toward blacks needed to be changed. To assist officers in command of black servicemen, the Navy issued a manual titled, Guide to Command of Negro Naval

121 Personnel. After issuance of the manual, the Navy noted that the investigations of subsequent racial issues found that issues occurred when naval officers were not following procedures outlined in the manual. It is my interpretation that this manual provided a fundamental cultural training for those who were in command of black servicemen. It is my opinion that providing cultural training for all who interact with a diverse population at predominantly white institution is an additional lesson to be taken from the Navy’s historical approach to racial integration.

It is important to continue to review history to gain new perspectives and investigate how current issues are similar to past issues, especially with the intent to uncover how issues were resolved. The Navy’s approach to racial integration can be informative to current challenges of diversity and inclusion at predominantly white institutions. The Navy was resistant to racial integration but conditions, at the time, dictated a new approach. The Navy was able to change from racially segregated service to fully integrated service during wartime and evolved into a more effective institution.

The men of the Navy Band B-1 exemplified bravery to voluntarily serve within a military branch that openly expressed that it did not want blacks fully integrated within its ranks.

Despite these racial barriers, the B-1 served without incident throughout the duration of their military service. The B-1 served with integrity, which also came with personal sacrifice, in order to endure the hardships of racial discrimination while also dealing with the universal threats of wartime service. It is my hope that the story of the Navy Band B-

1 takes its rightful place in history within the American military tradition and inspires continued learning and exploration on how best to approach necessary and thoughtful change within predominately white institutions today.

122 Recommendations for Future Research

This study explored the formation of the Navy Band B-1 in addition to the band members’ perceptions of their service during World War II. At the time of this study, there were only three surviving members of the Navy Band B-1, therefore, it was critical to document their stories as quickly as possible. There were also other little-known all- black military bands in the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps throughout the military music tradition. There is a paucity of research focused on the service and contributions of all- black military bands to the American military tradition. Additional study is needed to highlight the history of these bands. There are very few surviving members of these bands and studies need to be conducted while members of these organizations and people with knowledge of these bands are still alive.

It was noted that there were numerous all-black navy bands which were dispatched prior to the official racial integration of the Navy School of Music.

Approximately 5,000 black Navy musicians received musical training at the Navy’s

Negro School of Music located at the Great Lakes Camps between 1942 and 1946. As the

Navy was reluctant to send black sailors abroad, it is recommended that future studies investigate the service of these all-black Navy bands and where they were stationed during their time of service. Additional studies should investigate the service of the all- black Montford Point Band which was the first black band of the Marine Corps; the

Negro Regiment bands of the Army in the 1900s including the 9th Calvary, the 24th

Infantry, the 10th Calvary, and the 25th Infantry; the Army bands of World War I including the 807th Regiment Band, the 10th Calvary and 368th Infantry Buffaloes; and the

123

307th Infantry Black Devils Band. It is recommended that future research studies investigate the contributions of black musicians within each of the military branches of the United States military.

124 References

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Astor, Gerald. The Right to Fight: A History of African Americans in the Military. Novato: Presidio Press, 1998.

Bergman, Peter M., and Mort M. Bergman. The Chronological History of the Negro in America. New York: Harper & Row, 1969.

Bierly, Paul E. John Philip Sousa: American Phenomenon. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1973.

Byers, Jean. A Study of the Negro in Military Service. Washington, D.C.: Department of Defense, 1950.

Camus, Raoul Francois. “A Re-evaluation of the American Band Tradition.” Journal of Band Research VII, no. 1 (1970): 5.

Camus, Raoul Francois. “The Military Band in the United States Prior to 1834.” PhD diss., New York University, 1969.

Carpenter, Kenneth Williams. “A History of the United States Marine Band.” PhD diss., The University of Iowa, 1970.

Coupland, Bethan Elinor. “Heritage and Memory: Oral History and Mining Heritage in Wales and Cornwall.” PhD diss., University of Exeter, 2012.

Cross, Robert F. “Sailors in the Shadows.” In Shepherds of the Sea: Destroyer Escorts in World War II, 165-166. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2010.

Dyess, Jimmie Wayne. “A History of the United States Navy Band, Washington, D.C. (1918-1980).” PhD diss., University of Houston, 1988.

Federer, Natalie. “The Use of Oral History and Narrative Research in Broadening the Historical Foundation of the Agricultural Communication Field.” PhD diss., Purdue University, 2015.

Floyd, Samuel. “Alton Augustus Adams: The First Black Bandmaster in the U.S. Navy.” The Black Perspective in Music 5, no. 2 (Autumn 1977): 173-187. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1214078.

125 Floyd, Samuel. “Oral History: The Great Lakes Experience.” The Black Perspective in Music 11, no. 1 (Spring 1983): 41-61. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1215142.

Floyd, Samuel. “The Great Lakes Experience: 1942-1945.” The Black Perspective in Music 3, no. 1 (Spring 1975): 17-24. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1214375.

Green, Anna and Megan Hutching. Remember: Writing Oral History. Auckland: Auckland Press, 2004.

Harris, Dana. “The Organizational and Unit History of the 399th Army Band.” PhD diss., Northeast Missouri State University, 1977.

Heller, George N., and Bruce D. Wilson. “Historical Research.” In Handbook of Research on Music Teaching and Learning, edited by Richard Colwell, 102. New York: Macmillan, Inc., 1992.

Hershey, Joanna Ross and Jill M. Sullivan. “A History of the United States Coast Guard SPAR Band.” Journal of Historical Research in Music Education 30, no. 2 (2009): 125.

Jones, Patrick M. “A History of the Armed Forces School of Music.” PhD diss., The Pennsylvania State University, 2002.

MacGregor, Morris. “World War II: The Navy.” In Integration of the Armed Forces, 1940-1965, Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, 1981.

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n.n. United States Navy Pre-Flight School Band. Chapel Hill, NC, 1944.

126

Nalty, Bernard C. “The Naval Service in World War II: Policy and Reality.” In Strength for the Fight: A History of Black Americans in the Military, 187. New York: Free Press, 1986.

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Sullivan, Jill M. “Women’s Military Band in a Segregated Army: The 400th and 404th WAC Bands.” Journal of Band Research 41, no. 2 (2006): 1.

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127 White, Walter. A Man Called White: The Autobiography of Walter White. Ann Arbor: Viking Press, 1948.

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128 Appendix A

Consent for Research

Title of Project: History of the Navy Band B-1 Principal Investigator: Gregory A. Drane Address: 101 Blue Band Building University Park, PA 16803 Telephone Number: Advisor: Dr. Anne Clements Advisor Telephone Number:

Subject’s Printed Name:

We are asking you to be in a research study. This form gives you information about the research.

Whether or not you take part is up to you. You can choose not to take part. You can agree to take part and later change your mind. Your decision will not be held against you.

Please ask questions about anything that is unclear to you and take your time to make your choice.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY?

The purpose of this study is to document history of the Navy Band B-1. This study expands upon limited scholarly research relating to the Navy Band B-1 by documenting the formation and service of the Navy Band B-1. The primary objective of this study is to investigate the formation and service of the Navy Band B-1 in addition to the military service of the Navy

Band B-1 members. I am asking you to participate in this research because of your knowledge of the Navy Band B-1.

129 WHAT WILL HAPPEN DURING THIS STUDY?

In this study, the researcher will:

• Examine archived military documents, correspondences and articles pertaining to the conceptualization, formation and service of the Navy Band B-1. • Conduct interviews with Navy Band B-1 members and any persons having knowledge of the Navy Band B-1. • Transcribe all interviews • Provide interview participants transcripts of their interview • Conduct follow-up conversations with participants • Analyze all data collected

Interview At an agreed date and time, you will be asked to complete an interview with the researcher. The interview may be conducted either in-person, via phone or via Skype, Facetime, etc. The researcher will ask questions pertaining to the formation of the Navy Band B-1 and the service of the Navy Band B-1 members.

You are free to skip any question during the interview.

Following the interview, you will be provided with a transcript to review prior to the analysis. You will be free to redact or rephrase the transcript as needed. Redacted data will not be included in analysis or publication. You will then be asked to return the edited transcript back to the researcher in the pre-paid envelope.

Phone Follow-Up The researcher may follow-up with you by phone up to nine months later to provide you an opportunity to discuss any questions you may have at that time. You will also be provided with an opportunity to discuss any concerns with the transcripts of this interview to redact or rephrase as needed.

Audio/Video Recording One aspect of this study involves making audio and/or video recordings of you. The recordings serve as the primary data record for the interview phase of the study. They will only be available to the researcher for the initial transcription and will be retained in perpetuity for educational and presentation purposes only.

WHAT ARE THE RISKS OF THIS STUDY?

You may experience one or more of the risks indicated below from participating in this study. In addition to these, there may be other unknown risks, or risks that we did not anticipate, associated with being in this study.

There is a risk of loss of confidentiality of your information or your identity is obtained by someone other than the investigators, but precautions will be taken to prevent this from happening. The confidentiality of your electronic data created by you or by the researchers

130 will be maintained to the degree permitted by the technology used. Absolute confidentiality cannot be guaranteed.

You may be uncomfortable discussing topics where past policies and practices may not reflect current practices or current societal norms, such as racial segregation. To mitigate these risks, you will be able to skip any question or topics to which you do not feel comfortable responding. Also, you will be presented with transcripts of interviews and phone follow-ups to redact or rephrase anything as you see fit prior to data analysis.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF THIS STUDY?

You will not benefit from being in this study.

However, we hope that other people might benefit from this study by having access to knowledge of how the U.S. Navy initially addressed issues of racial inclusion through the service of the Navy Band B-1. Also, we hope that the documentation of the service of the Navy Band B-1 and the stories of the band members can become a part historical record for future generations.

HOW LONG WILL YOU TAKE PART IN THIS STUDY?

If you agree to take part in this study, your time commitment will consist of: • One interview with the researcher (45-minutes to 1 hour), • A review of the transcripts of your interview (time dependent on your review), • One follow-up phone call (approx. 10-20 minutes).

HOW WILL YOUR PRIVACY AND COFIDENTIALITY BE PROTECTED IN THIS STUDY?

Efforts will be made to limit the use and sharing of your personal research information to people who have a need to review this information.

We will do our best to keep your participation in this research study confidential to the extent permitted by law. However, it is possible that other people may find out about your participation in this research study. For example, the following people/groups may check and copy records about this research. • The Office for Human Research Protections in the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services • The Institutional Review Board (a committee that reviews and approves research studies) and • The Office for Research Protections. Some of these records could contain information that personally identifies you. Reasonable efforts will be made to keep the personal information in your research record private. However, absolute confidentiality cannot be guaranteed.

131 To help protect your confidentiality, we will only allow the research team access the initial unredacted audio and transcripts, which will be stored in locked offices or on password- protected computers or devices. Interview responses concerning policies, events and factual information about the Navy Band B-1 and its members may become identifiable as a result of the limited number of Navy Band B-1 members. However, responses concerning your feelings and thoughts will be kept confidential unless the you give consent to be directly quoted and identified. Prior to any interview questions, you will be asked verbally whether you consent to have the thoughts, feelings, and/or opinions you express quoted and identified in the research document. During the interview, you may choose to make a particular response “off the record,” which allows quotation in the publication, but prohibits it from being attributed to you. When presented with a transcript to redact, you may also note that any or all responses are “off the record.” If we write a report or article about this study or share the study data set with others, we will do so in such a way that any redacted data cannot be directly identified.

WHAT ARE THE COSTS OF TAKING PART IN THIS STUDY?

You will not have any costs for being in this research study.

WILL I BE PAID FOR PARTICIPATING?

You will not be paid for being in this research study.

WHO IS PAYING FOR THIS STUDY?

The University and the research team are receiving no payments from other agencies, organizations, or companies to conduct this research study.

WHAT ARE YOUR RIGHTS IF YOU TAKE PART IN THIS STUDY?

Taking part in this research study is voluntary. • You do not have to be in this research. • If you choose to be in this research, you have the right to stop at any time. • If you decide not to be in this research or if you decide to stop at a later date, there will be no penalty or loss of benefits to which you are entitled.

WHAT IF I HAVE QUESTIONS

Please call the head of the research study Gregory Drane at (XXX) XXX-XXX, if you: • Have questions, complaints or concerns about the research. • Believe you may have been harmed by being in the research study.

You may also contact the Office for Research Protections at (814) 865-1775, [email protected] if you: • Have questions regarding your rights as a person in a research study. • Have concerns or general questions about the research.

132

• You may also call this number if you cannot reach the research team or wish to offer input or to talk to someone else about any concerns related to the research.

INFORMED CONSENT TO TAKE PART IN RESEARCH

Signature of Person Obtaining Informed Consent

Your signature below means that you have explained the research to the subject or subject representative and have answered any questions he/she has about the research.

______Signature of person who explained this research Date Printed Name (Only approved investigators for this research may explain the research and obtain informed consent.)

Signature of Person Giving Informed Consent

Before making the decision about being in this research you should have: • Discussed this research study with an investigator, • Read the information in this form, and • Had the opportunity to ask any questions you may have. Your signature below means that you have received this information, have asked the questions you currently have about the research and those questions have been answered. You will receive a copy of the signed and dated form to keep for future reference.

Signature of Subject

By signing this consent form, you indicate that you voluntarily choose to be in this research and agree to allow your information to be used and shared as described above.

______Signature of Subject Date Printed Name

133

Appendix B

Sample Recruitment Document/Script

Hello, my name is Gregory Drane, and I am a Ph.D. candidate in Music Education at the Pennsylvania State University. As a part of my dissertation, I will be documenting history of the Navy Band B-1. This research expands upon limited scholarly research pertaining to the Navy Band B-1 by documenting the formation and service of the Navy Band B-1.

You are invited to participate based on your knowledge of the conceptualization, formation and/or service of the Navy Band B-1. I would like to interview you for approximately 45-minutes to one hour on a visit to your city to discuss the Navy Band B- 1. If necessary, we could meet using video conference software or on the phone. Prior to the interview, you would be provided potential interview questions. Unfortunately, I am unable to compensate you for your time.

If you are interested in participating, please send me a brief e-mail or express your verbal consent by phone. We can discuss potential interview dates; the interview and a consent document will be sent by mail for your review. If you elect to not participate, please let me know by phone or email; I would appreciate being directed to any another potential participant. Please feel free to contact me with any questions. Thank you very much for your time!

Gregory A. Drane Ph. D. Candidate, Music Education Pennsylvania State University

101 Blue Band Building University Park, PA 16802

134 Appendix C

EXEMPTION DETERMINATION

Date: October 3, 2018 From: Philip Frum, IRB Analyst To: Gregory Drane

Type of Submission: Initial Study Title of Study: History of the Navy Band B-1 Principal Investigator: Gregory Drane Study ID: STUDY00009898 Submission ID: STUDY00009898 Funding: Not Applicable Documents Approved: • History of Navy Band B-1 Protocol for human subjects (2), Category: IRB Protocol • Navy Band B-1 Interview Guide.docx (0.01), Category: Data Collection Instrument The Office for Research Protections determined that the proposed activity, as described in the above-referenced submission, does not require formal IRB review because the research met the criteria for exempt research according to the policies of this institution and the provisions of applicable federal regulations.

Continuing Progress Reports are not required for exempt research. Record of this research determined to be exempt will be maintained for five years from the date of this notification. If your research will continue beyond five years, please contact the Office for Research Protections closer to the determination end date.

Changes to exempt research only need to be submitted to the Office for Research Protections in limited circumstances described in the below-referenced Investigator Manual. If changes are being considered and there are questions about whether IRB review is needed, please contact the Office for Research Protections.

Penn State researchers are required to follow the requirements listed in the Investigator Manual (HRP-103), which can be found by navigating to the IRB Library within CATS IRB (http://irb.psu.edu).

This correspondence should be maintained with your records.

We would like to know how the IRB Program can better serve you. Please fill out our survey; it should take about a minute: https://www.research.psu.edu/irb/feedback . ID27

135 Appendix D

Interview Guide: Oral History of the Navy Band B-1

Date & Time of Interview: ______

Location of Interview: ______

DEMOGRAPHICS

Name: ______

Phone: ______E-mail: ______

Affiliation with the Navy Band B-1:______

______

RECRUITMENT/SERVICE

Recruitment/Formation How did the Navy recruit members for Navy Band B-1?

What were the needed requirements to become a Navy B-1 Band member?

What actions were needed to be able to join the Navy?

Were there auditions to join the Navy Band B-1? (What was your musical background?)

Training Where did training for the Navy Band B-1 take place?

Where was the training facility? City? State?

What did training consist of at the training facility?

How long was training?

Did the Navy Band B-1 receive any musical training during the time at the Training facility?

What was a part of the musical training?

Active Duty Where was the Navy B-1 Band first assigned?

What were the day to day responsibilities?

136

How long was the Navy B-1 Band stationed at the assignment? Location?

Was the Band stationed anywhere else?

How did the Band rehearse?

What was some of the music the band played? Concerts?

What were some of the additional assignments for the Navy Band B-1?

POLICY Are you aware of any changes in Naval policy as it related to the recruitment/service of black Americans? During the service of the Navy Band B-1? After?

Did the recruitment of blacks increase or decrease in the Navy after the Navy B-1 Band?

REFLECTIONS

What is your perception of the role of the Navy Band B-1 in integrating the Navy?

What was the reaction to the arrival of the Navy B-1 Band in the Navy? In the community? On base?

Do you feel the Navy was prepared for racial integration?

Were there any unique challenges related to the service of the Navy Band B-1? On base? Within the community?

Did you perceive any changes in attitudes towards integration during or after the Navy Band B- 1’s service?

Do you believe that Navy Band B-1’s service had an impact on racial integration during WWII? After WWII?

What are some the significant events or performances of the Navy Band B-1? Memorable Events?

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153 Appendix F

154 Appendix G

VITA

Gregory A. Drane

Education

2020 Doctor of Philosophy in Music Education The Pennsylvania State University University Park, PA

2006 Master of Music Education The Pennsylvania State University University Park, PA

2002 Bachelor of Music Education and Music Performance Bethune-Cookman University Daytona Beach, FL

Professional Experience

The Pennsylvania State University, 2015-Present Director of Penn State Marching Blue Band and Athletic Bands

The Pennsylvania State University, 2005-2015 Assistant Director Penn State Marching Blue Band and Athletic Bands

Refereed article

Drane, G. (2015). The Role of African American Musicians in the Integration of the United States Navy. Music Educators Journal. DOI: 10.1177/0027432114565132

Workshops, Presentations & Guest Lectures:

1. Preparing Assistant Band Directors for Success – Invited Panelist 2. Marketing Your Band - Invited Panelist 3. Leadership in the Music Classroom 4. Historically Black College Marching Band Show Design 5. Bandmaster William P. Foster: Fostering Excellence Through Character 6. Engaging Students and Fans on Multiple Levels 7. The Art of Ensemble Saxophone Playing