Synopses & Reviews
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 and Gold and Black is the history of integration of African Americans into the Naval Academy. The book examines how civil rights advocatesand#8217; demands for equal opportunity shaped the Naval Academyand#8217;s evolution. Author Robert J. Schneller Jr. analyzes how changes in the Academyand#8217;s policies and culture affected the lives of black midshipmen, as well as how black midshipmen effected change in the Academyand#8217;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 and 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 Academyand#8217;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 and Gold and Black traces the transformation of an institution that produces men and women who lead not only the Navy, but also the nation.
Review
". . . solid study. .andnbsp;. Scholars of military, civil rights, and twentieth-century history will want this book for their libraries."-Journal of American History
Review
"Schneller uses their firsthand recollections to provide insights into the academy's culture that cannot be gained from official records."
Review
and#8220;and#8230;sure to become one of the most important contributions to naval, military, race relations, Cold War, and Afro-American scholarship in the last twenty-fifty years. Dr. Schneller has captured long neglected and missing chapters of naval history, the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S. in general and at the Naval Academy, specifically. . . . Military and civilian leaders/managers combating racism, sexism, and traditionalism will benefit from Schnellerand#8217;s analysis of the effective and ineffective approaches that the navy took. More importantly, this book will reassure readers that great progress can be made toward resolving these problems.and#8221;--Regina T. Akers, Operational Archives, Naval Historical Center
Review
". . . vivid history which blends the style of Studs Turkel with the rigor of the best academic writing. . ."-Washington Times
About the Author
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