Executive Order 8802 Bans Discrimination In the National Defense Industry

On June 25, 1941 months before Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8802. Executive Order 8802 banned discrimination in the National Defense Industry. The President's official statement accompanying the bill was as follows: "The democratic way of life within the nation can be defended successfully only with the help and support of all groups." Roosevelt was prompted into signing this law by his wife Eleanor Roosevelt, a tireless champion for Black advancement. His decision was also spurred by civil rights activists such as A. Phillip Randolph.  Randolph had threatened a March on Washington.


Consequently, the United States Marine Corps could no longer prohibit Blacks from joining their ranks. Blacks since the Civil War had been recruited to join the Army and the Navy, but were excluded by the Marines. The 100 plus year policy of exclusion of Blacks was now mandated to change after FDR's signing of Executive Order 8802.

Howard P. Perry, First Black Marine Recruit
Source: archives.gov

The first Black recruit was Howard P. Perry of Charlotte, North Carolina. He arrived to Montford Point on August 26, 1942, and in September he and 119 other privates began the arduous process of becoming Marines.  - National gov. archives

These Marines were assigned "special housing" at Montford Point. They were not allowed to go to Camp Lejeune unless they were accompanied by a White Marine. Reported Montford Point Marine, Thomas S. Turner, "they didn't want us in there to begin with. They referred us as "you people" as if we were some type of animals. It was rough, but we survived."  -phillytrib.com

Executive Order 8802 enabled African Americans such as my father to obtain employment in defense factories.* Thousands of Blacks were able to work in defense factories and help our nation at war. Dad was then encouraged to become a Montford Point Marine by James Huger, who worked for the War Department. Furthermore, Blacks could then procure middle class life styles. Executive Order 8802 became an impetus to desegregate other institutions in the future.

In essence, the contributions of all Americans were needed in the war effort. Months before Pearl Harbor and the United State's entry into World War II, policy makers believed that the contributions of African Americans were necessary. The Montford Point Marines were a result of Executive Order 8802. It essentially banned discrimination in the National Defense Industry. But we know that the Montford Point Marines were in fact, discriminated, since their training facility was segregated and their treatment received was less than honorable.

Source: Airspace.si.edu

Notes: Executive Order 8802 did not extend to Japanese Americans; many were placed in internment camps during WWII.


Sources: lejeuene.marines.mil,www.phillytrib.com,www.veteransunited.com

* See Previous Related Posts:

The Person Who Influenced Dad's Decision to Become a Marine
Dad's Arrival in Connecticut

Six Bailey Brothers Served the Country in World War II

Six Bailey Brothers of Punta Gorda, Florida served the country honorably during WWII. Actually, there were seven African American brothers who were in the Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard and the Air Force. The youngest Bailey brother served in the Korean War. Charlotte County Airport in Florida has a section named the Bailey Terminal.

Source: Tuskegeeairmenart.com
Charles Bailey

Six of the Bailey Brothers served in World War II and the seventh was the first Black jet pilot in the Florida; he served in Korea. The Bailey Brothers were the offspring of Archie and Josephine Bailey, a close, tight knit family whose children traveled to school in other communities far away. Punta Gorda did not have schools for Black children.

                                                                          Source: starduststudios.com
                                                                   Lt. Charles Bailey





Lieutenant Charles Baily was a Tuskegee Airmen who flew 133 combat missions. He survived flying over enemy territory in North Africa and Europe. A member of the 99th Fighter Squadron, he earned the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal, Four Oak Clusters and the Presidential Unit Citation.

                                                            Source: waymarking.com
                                                      Plaque at Charlotte County Airport


As Don Moore delineated from donmooreswartales.com, the "Fighting Bailey Brothers" consisted of:


Maurice Bailey- (1906- ?)  Army, member of support unit that supplied food and ammunition to front lines.

Berlin Bailey- ( 1912-1987) Navy, served in Guadalcanal as an Electrician's Mate 3rd Class.

Charles Bailey-(1919-2001)  Army 99th Fighter Squadron

Harding Bailey- (1920-1984) Served in on the U.S.S. Mason as an electrician, the subject of my previous post. The USS Mason was a predominately Black ship in the WWII.

Paul Bailey- (1922-1987) Chaplain's assistant in the US Army, Pacific Theater

Arthur Bailey- (1925-1959) Served in Iwo Jima, Marines, drove a truck

Carl Bailey- (1929-1957) Was the first African American jet pilot in Florida, flew during Korean War.




Here is an excerpt from a Huffington Post article by travel writer Karen Rubin.  Rubin visited the Gulf Coast Military History Museum that has an exhibit on the Bailey brothers--

I learned that there would likely not have been a Tuskegee Airmen, except for Eleanor Roosevelt who pushed for Black aviators, trained at Tuskegee Institute, to be accepted as a flying force. To prove their capability, she went as a passenger in a plane with one of the Tuskegee pilots. A photo of her in the plane is on display, and makes you feel that this happened only yesterday.

Source: starduststudios.com 

Artist rendition of Charles Bailey's plane.

"My Buddy" was named after his father.

When speaking to my dad yesterday about the U.S.S Mason, he indicated that he never heard of them. I informed him that they were known as "Eleanor's Folly" and they received their recognition many decades later. "Kind of like us," he murmured. He asked me to repeat some of their feats and was impressed.

Dad then recalled seeing Eleanor Roosevelt on the front porch of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune's house, since it was on his paper route in Daytona Beach, Florida. He reports seeing a security detail for Mrs. Roosevelt when he dropped off her newspaper.

Charles Bailey attended Bethune Cookman College in Daytona Beach, Florida on a football scholarship. Because Dr. Bethune had the ear of the Eleanor Roosevelt, the First Lady arranged for his transfer to Tuskegee, where he could study aviation.

So, tomorrow I will give Dad the history of the Bailey Brothers. I am sure he will be pleased to learn about them. I will explain to him that the Six Bailey Brothers of Florida served in numerous branches of military during WWII. The seventh Bailey and the youngest served in Korea. Upon discharge they went on to successful careers in education, business and community involvement. I only stumbled upon them by researching the U.S.S Mason, where Harding Bailey was an electrician.

                                                           Source: swfloridaproperties.net

Notes:
Charles Bailey was credited with shooting down two German fighter planes in Josephine, a plane ( P-40 Warfolk) named after his mother. Bailey also piloted My Buddy, a plane named for his father. ( P-51 Mustang)


Sources:
http://donmooreswartales.com/2010/03/21/bailey-brothers/ Has photos of all brothers and family.
http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM7AJX_The_Bailey_Brothers_Punta_Gorda_FL
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1755&dat=20010221&id=_0EgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=e38EAAAAIBAJ&pg=6236,267119
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/karen-rubin/charm-of-community-lures-_b_1277179.html

"Miss Bethune": Dad Was Her Paperboy

Dr. Mary MeLeod Bethune was a formidable woman. She was part of former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's " Black Cabinet". The cabinet advised FDR on matters of race relations and advancement. Dr. Bethune established a school for African American girls that evolved into Bethune-Cookman College in 1904, in Daytona Beach, Florida. She was also good friends with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who would visit the campus during the 1930's. The town would be buzzing about her arrival. "Miss Bethune" is how my dad always refers to this extraordinary woman, and he unconsciously adapts a respectful tone to his voice. As a matter of fact, I don't recall anyone ever speaking badly of "Miss Bethune". Ever. She "held things down" in the early part of the previous century, kind of like a Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, plus elements of Oprah Winfrey and Rosa Parks, all rolled into one.

"Mary McLeod Bethune"
Source:  www.cpnas.org

When Miss Bethune spoke, people listened. It was her close relationship with Eleanor Roosevelt (first syllable in last name pronounced by people in my father's generation with the long "u" vowel sound) that suggested that Negros were capable of serving in the military in combat positions. Eleanor Roosevelt was First Lady for sixteen years, and she was very influential in promoting civil rights and various humanitarian causes.

 The Primus family lived very close to Bethune-Cookman's campus. They lived so close to Miss Bethune that she used to call out to my dad's younger sister, who was on her way to school, "What are your goals for today?" It left such an indelible impression on my aunt. Successful and productive people always set goals and benchmarks. My aunt went on to have an illustrious career in nursing and has mentored countless individuals in her field. She earned a Doctorate in Nursing, taught at many colleges and has done consulting work in South Africa on H.I.V./ A.I.D.S. Certainly, my aunt listened to Miss Bethune about having goals.

Former  First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt
Source: www.cpnas.org

Dad was "Miss Bethune's" paperboy. Today's term is newspaper courier, because the job can be done by either male or female. If you were a paperboy during the 1930s, you had a highly coveted job. People in your neighborhood relied on you to deliver their newspaper bright and early. Dad did not have to brave rain or snow, since Daytona Beach is located in the "Sunshine State". The newspaper was a primary source of information next to the radio.

Source:  Flickr/Discover Black Heritage
Paperboy, 1920's

The radio informed and entertained its audience. If a family could afford it, the radio was a source of entertainment where families gathered around it to listen to news broadcasts, sporting events, comedy and drama. Did you know the term soap opera or soaps, was derived from the advertisers that paid for advertising during serial shows? Companies like Proctor and Gamble would advertise their products during scheduled show times, because they knew that is when people would be listening. This practice is still used today, but in other mediums as well. An advertiser will pay millions to have their product promoted during the Superbowl because millions will see it and talk about it.


 The Primus family was fortunate to be able to afford  a radio, and neighbors crowded around it to listen to the first Joe Louis vs. Max Schmeling heavyweight boxing fight. That was a major sport event, much like Muhammad Ali's "Thriller In Manila" and "Rumble In the Jungle" or the aforementioned Superbowl. Additionally, Former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt used the radio frequently to reassure the nation during his long, challenging administration.

Source: www.eogn.com

Back to "Miss Bethune".  Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune went on to create the National Council of Negro Women. She was a trailblazer, and was a pivotal person in the lives of not only The Primus Family, but for the nation overall. It was Miss Bethune that believed that Blacks could serve well in combat.Consequently, my father as a teenager was able to serve as a Montford Point Marine, specifically in a history making battalion. But Dad's early brush with greatness as a child was being Miss Bethune's paperboy!

The Person Who Influenced Dad's Decision In Joining The Marines

The fateful meeting with James Huger in Clifford Primus' hometown of  Daytona Beach, Florida obviously influenced the teenager. Even today, my father vividly described the six stripes up and six stripes down on Huger's uniform. James Huger, as my dad would say in his own parlance, "Is a heavy dude." Heavy meaning "serious and intense", for my English as a Second Language Readers.

Source: newsjournalonline.mycapture 

Mr. Huger credits two women for making a difference in his life:  His wife of 71 years, the late Phanye Huger, and Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune. Dr. Bethune founded Historically Black Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona Beach, Florida. She was also close friends with Former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and was a leader in civil rights. I envision Phanye Huger as a very supportive and intelligent woman; she was a school principal who I am willing to bet impacted many lives.

 Source: vintageblackglamour tumblr.com
Dr Bethune and students at the college* she founded. 

James Huger moved to Daytona Beach, Florida from West Palm Beach, Florida. His father was a prominent minister who housed Dr. Bethune at the Huger home in West Palm Beach, as people of color could not stay in hotels. Later on, James Huger worked at Bethune Cookman and earned a degree in Business Administration from West Virginia State University. Bethune helped him get a job in the War Department, and he enlisted into the U.S. Marine Corps in 1941. 1941 was the year that the Marine Corps finally accepted African-Americans. The Marines were the last branch of the American armed forces to do so.


James Huger also served as general secretary for Alpha Phi Alpha, Inc., the nation's first Black fraternity and service organization, in 1939.  It was Huger and several of his Alpha brothers who years later went to fellow Alpha brother Dr. Martin Luther King's Miami trial. Mr. Huger and his friends "were shocked how King was treated by his own attorney." Dr. King's attorney  referred to his client as that boy. (Iinformation obtained by Daytona Times, April 6, 2012.) Huger and others assisted Dr. King financially. They raised significant amounts of money for the civil rights movement.

Huger was asked by Bethune to be in charge of the first UNCF (United Negro College Fund) for Bethune Cookman-College. To date, UNCF has raised more than 2 billion dollars to help a total of more than 350,000 students to attend college, more than any entity outside of the government. (Source: UNCF.org)

Source: alumniunit.com

If you were African American and were fortunate enough to go to college in the South during the first half of the 1900s, you went to a Historically Black College or University (HBCU). Higher institutions of learning did not accept African Americans, hence Black land grant and private intuitions were established. Most were established after the American Civil War and in the South except for two in the state of Pennsylvania and two in Ohio. Ohio and Pennsylvania prohibited slavery;  three of these Northern HBCUs were established before the Civil War.     (Source: U.S. Department of Education, 2008-01-17, White House Initiative on HBCUs)

What better person to get my father to enlist in the Marines than James Huger? A hometown hero, college graduate, officer, and a man of honor?


*White Hall, a building on Bethune-Cookman's campus, is listed in the National Registry of Historical Sites