Table of Contents

Preface AcknowledgmentsPart I The Glorious Failure: Reconstruction and the Naval Academy, 1872-18761 "Not ... Their Equals Socially" 2 "Speechless Walls as Companions" Part II Persona Non Grata: Jim Crow and the Naval Academy, 1877-19413 Segregation by Occupation 4 "Railroaded Out of Navy" 5 "They Shall Not Pass" Part III Breaking the Color Barrier: World War II and the First Black Graduate, 1942-19496 Racial Policy "Revolution" 7 The Greater Challenge 8 Demerits by the Bucketful 9 Success and Celebrity Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index About the Author

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The African-American Community's Battle to Combat the U.S. Naval Academy's Legacy of Racism

About the Author

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.

Reviews

"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"