Overview

Only five black men were admitted to the United States Naval Academy between Reconstruction and the beginning of World War II. None graduated, and all were deeply scarred by intense racial discrimination, ranging from brutal hazing incidents to the institutionalized racist policies of the Academy itself. Breaking the Color Barrier examines the black community's efforts to integrate the Naval Academy, as well as the experiences that black midshipmen encountered at Annapolis. Historian Robert J. Schneller analyzes how the Academy responded to demands for integration from black and white civilians, civil rights activists, and politicians, as well as what life at the Academy was like for black midshipmen and the encounters they had with their white classmates.In 1949, Midshipman Wesley Brown achieved what seemed to be the impossible: he became the first black graduate of the Academy. Armed with intelligence, social grace, athleticism, self-discipline, and an immutable pluck, as well as critical support from friends and family, Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, and the Executive Department, Brown was able to confront and ultimately shatter the Academy's tradition of systematic racial discrimination. Based on the Navy's documentary records and on personal interviews with scores of midshipmen and naval officers, Breaking the Color Barrier sheds light on the Academy's first step in transforming itself from a racist institution to one that today ranks equal opportunity among its fundamental tenets.

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9780814740132

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""My first personal experience with racial integration began when an African-American student, Wesley Brown, entered the U.S. Naval Academy in 1945. We both ran cross-country during the year that we spent together in Annapolis. A few members of my senior class attempted to find ways to have him discharged, but Brown's good performance prevailed and he became the Academy's first black graduate. Breaking the Color Barrier describes Brown's experiences, the travails of his predecessors, and, through the African American community's efforts to integrate the Academy, black people's dream of achieving equality."" - Jimmy Carter""

My first personal experience with racial integration began when an African-American student, Wesley Brown, entered the U.S. Naval Academy in 1945. We both ran cross-country during the year that we spent together in Annapolis. A few members of my senior class attempted to find ways to have him discharged, but Brown's good performance prevailed and he became the Academy's first black graduate. Breaking the Color Barrier describes Brown's experiences, the travails of his predecessors, and, through the African American community's efforts to integrate the Academy, black people's dream of achieving equality. - Jimmy Carter

Author Information

Robert J. Schneller Jr. is an official historian in the Contemporary History Branch of the U.S. Navy’s Naval Historical Center and holds a Ph.D. in military history from Duke University. He is an award-winning biographer and historian, and has published several books on American naval history, including Shield and Sword: The United States Navy and the Persian Gulf War, and A Quest for Glory: A Biography of Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren. He lives in Washington, D.C.

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