1951 USN NAVY SIGNED PHOTO 1ST BLACK AFRICAN AMERICAN NAVY OFFICER 'GOLDEN 13'

Description

[US NAVY, AFRICAN AMERICANS, MILITARY INTEGRATION, KOREAN WAR ERA, SIGNED PHOTOS]
Offered here is a historic and rare image of one of
THE FIRST 13 AFRICAN-AMERICAN US NAVAL OFFICERS. THESE FIRST 13 BLACK NAVAL OFFICERS ARE KNOWN AS THE 'GOLDEN 13'
.
This particular photo is of Navy
Lt. Dennis D. Nelson
.
NELSON HAS INSCRIBED THE 8 X 10 PHOTO
:
"To:
'The Spirit of Cotton' (Ernestine James)
A most charming representative
With fondest regards,
Dennis D. Nelson
Lieutenant US Navy  - 51'
"
The photo is in very good condition save for some minor tape residue, two very small tape 'pulls' on the emulsion near the subject's ear and nose. Lastly, the dedicatee (the person to whom the image was inscribed, Ernestine Jones) used pinking shears to add a bit of decoration and flair to 3 of the edges for her 'Spirit of Cotton' scrapbook which this came from. The photo is also stamped twice as
'OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH - Not to be used for publication by order of The Chief of Naval Operations
' and dated and stamped with
'Lt. Dennis D. Nelson - USN  Rec'd 30 Nov 1950
'.
Ernestine Jones was the 1951 'Spirit of Cotton' (sort of like an African American 'Miss America' of the day as blacks weren't allowed to participate in the larger beauty pageants) and following her win, she traveled around the country meeting military and civic leaders as a sort of goodwill ambassador for the cotton industry.
The complete list of the '
Golden Thirteen
' is as follows:
Ensign George C. Cooper, USNR;
Ensign William S. White, USNR;
Ensign Graham E. Martin, USNR;
Ensign Jesse W. Arbor, USNR;
Ensign John W. Reagan, USNR;
Ensign Reginald E. Goodwin, USNR;
Ensign Dennis D. Nelson, USNR;
Ensign Phillip G. Barnes, USNR;
Ensign Samuel E. Barnes, USNR;
Ensign Dalton L. Baugh, USNR;
Ensign James E. Hare, USNR;
Ensign Frank E. Sublett, USNR;
Warrant Boatswain Charles B. Lear, USNR.
_____________________________
The Golden Thirteen
were the thirteen African American enlisted men who became the first African American commissioned and warrant officers in the United States Navy.
History
Throughout the history of the United States until the end of World War I, the Navy had enlisted African Americans for general service, but they were barred from joining from 1919 to 1932. From 1893 onwards, African Americans could only join the Navy's Messman's and Steward's branches, which not only segregated African Americans from the rest of the Navy community, but also precluded them from becoming commissioned officers.
In June 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the executive order (8802) that prohibited racial discrimination by any government agency.
Responding to pressure from First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Assistant Secretary of the Navy Adlai Stevenson, in January 1944, the Navy began an accelerated 2-month officer training course for 16 African-American enlisted men at Camp Robert Smalls, Recruit Training Center Great Lakes (now known as Great Lakes Naval Training Station), in Illinois. The class average at graduation was 3.89.
Although all sixteen members of the class passed the course, only twelve were commissioned in March 1944:
John Walter Reagan (1920-1994),
Jesse Walter Arbor (1914-2000)
,
Samuel David Jones
,
Darion Damon Ivy lll (1914-2014)
,
Graham Edward Martin (born 1917),
Phillip George Barnes, Reginald Goodwin, James Edward Hair (1915-1992)
,
Samuel Edward Barnes, George Clinton Cooper, William Sylvester White, and Dennis Denmark Nelson were commissioned as Ensigns
;
Charles Byrd Lear (1920-2006)
was appointed as a Warrant Officer.
Because Navy policy prevented them from being assigned to combatant ships, early black officers wound up being detailed to run labor gangs ashore.
Postwar
President Harry S. Truman officially desegregated the U.S. military in 1948. At the time of the Golden Thirteen's commissioning, there were approximately 100,000 African-American men serving in the United States Navy's enlisted ranks.
Frank E. Sublett, the last living member of the group, died in 2006.
The Golden Thirteen's Legacy
In 1987, the U.S. Navy reunited the seven living members to dedicate a building in their honor at Great Lakes Naval Recruit Training Command, Illinois. Today, Building 1405 at RTC Great Lakes, where recruits first arrive for basic training, is named "
The Golden Thirteen
" in honor of them.
In 2006, ground was broken on a World War II memorial in North Chicago, Illinois to honor the Golden Thirteen and Dorie Miller.
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