During the twentieth century, the U.S. Naval Academy evolved from
a racist institution to one that ranked equal opportunity among its
fundamental tenets. This transformation was not without its social
cost, however, and black midshipmen bore the brunt of it.
Blue & Gold and Black is the history of integration of African
Americans into the Naval Academy. The book examines how civil
rights advocates' demands for equal opportunity shaped the Naval
Academy's evolution. Author Robert J. Schneller Jr. analyzes how
changes in the Academy's policies and culture affected the lives of
black midshipmen, as well as how black midshipmen effected
change in the Academy's policies and culture.
Most institutional history is written from the top down, while most
social history is written from the bottom up. Based on the
documentary record as well as on the memories of hundreds of
midshipmen and naval officers, Blue & Gold and Black includes
both perspectives. By examining both the institution and the
individual, a much more accurate picture emerges of how racial
integration occurred at the Naval Academy.
Schneller takes a biographical approach to social history. Through
written correspondence, responses to questionnaires, memoirs, and
oral histories, African American midshipmen recount their
experiences in their own words. Rather than setting adrift their
humanity and individuality in oceans of statistics, Schneller uses their
first-hand recollections to provide insights into the Academy's
culture that cannot be gained from official records. Covering the Jim
Crow era, the civil rights movement, and the empowerment of
African Americans from the late 1960s through the end of the
twentieth century, Blue & Gold and Black traces the transformation
of an institution that produces men and women who lead not only the
Navy, but also the nation.
_________________________________________________________
ROBERT J. SCHNELLER JR. has been an historian in the
Contemporary History Branch since joining the Naval Historical
Center in 1991. He is the author of five previous books on naval
history, two of which have won prestigious awards. His Ph.D. is from
Duke University. He lives in Woodbridge, Virginia.
Number 115: Texas A&M University Military History Series
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