Black and White

In the early months of World War II, the Navy Department designated Great Lakes as the only site for training African-American recruits. Recruits and Service School students trained at Camp Robert Smalls, named for the African-American Civil War hero Robert Smalls. During the war, Service School Command regarded integration as a practical and necessary step to improve training for all sailors. In 1944, a few African-American students were integrated with white students on an experimental basis, the experiment proved successful, and the “Negro Service Schools” soon disappeared.

North Chicago, Illinois · United States