THE GOLDEN THIRTEEN - March, 1944 

In January 1944, the naval officer corps was all white.  There were some one hundred thousand African American enlisted men in the Navy, however, none were officers.  In response to growing pressure from American civil rights organizations, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Assistant Secretary of the Navy Adlai Stevenson, pressured the Navy to begin officer training for 16 African-American enlisted men at Camp Robert Smalls, Recruit Training Center Great Lakes (now known as Great Lakes Naval Training Station), Illinois.  All had demonstrated top-notch leadership abilities as enlisted men.  Seizing the moment, these young me n worked as a team to complete their studies and, thereby, charted the course of equal opportunity in the Navy for all succeeding years.  During their officer candidate training, they compiled a class average of 3.89, a record that has yet to be broken.  The Navy thought they cheated because of the high test scores. They made all of them take the test again, individually..................the results were the same.

Although all passed the course, in March 1944, thirteen of the group made history when they became the U.S. Navy's first African-American officers on active duty.  John Walter Reagan, Jesse Walter Arbor, Dalton Louis Baugh, Frank Ellis Sublett, Graham Edward Martin, Phillip George Barnes, Reginald E. Goodwin, James Edward Hair, Samuel Edward Barnes, George Clinton Cooper, William Sylvester White, and Dennis Denmark Nelson were commissioned as ensigns. Charles Byrd Lear was commissioned as a warrant officer.  They proudly styled themselves "The Golden Thirteen."

They were often denied the privileges and respect routinely accorded white naval officers and were given menial assignments.  In World War II, they served with distinction on board Navy ships and shore stations until the end of the war.  Each surviving member can claim exceptional success in his chosen civilian profession, whether as an educator, businessman, lawyer, judge, or political leader.  The Golden Thirteen continued to provide strong support for the Navy's recruitment and equal opportunity efforts throughout the intervening years.  Only one of the Golden Thirteen made a career of the Navy, and he opened still more doors to black officers.  The other members of the group made their marks in civilian life after World War II.

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 Ellis Sublett, the last living member of the group died on September 27, 2006.

Today, the Navy salutes the thirteen black officers who were the cutting edge of equal opportunity progress.  Their abilities, performance, courage, and tenacity made a difference and constitute worthy examples for all those who pass through the Recruit Processing Facility, named in their honor, to become sailors in the United States Navy.

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.