Good Saturday Morning POU!

Hope you’ve enjoyed the series on World War II Black History! Our final post for this series is about the little known facts of African-Americans in the United States Merchant Marines.

Captain Hugh Mulzac

In 1942, against overwhelming odds, Captain Hugh Mulzac became the first African-American merchant marine naval officer to command an integrated crew during World War II. Born March 26, 1886 on Union Island, St. Vincent Island Group, British West Indies, Mulzac entered the Swansea Nautical College in South Wales to prepare for a seaman’s career while in his youth. He became an American citizen in 1918, and continued his training at the Shipping Board in New York.  He earned a Master rating in 1918 which should have qualified him to command a ship, but this did not happen until September 29, 1942 because of racial discrimination.  Although he earned his captain’s rating in 1918, racial prejudice denied him the right to command a ship for 24 years.

Later Mulzac was offered the command of a ship with an all-black crew. He refused, declaring that “under no circumstances will I command a Jim Crow vessel.” Twenty-two years passed before Mulzac would again receive an offer to command a naval ship. During World War II, his demand for an integrated crew was finally met, and he was put in command of the SS Booker T. Washington.

With its crew of eighteen nationalities, the Booker T. Washington made twenty-two round-trip voyages in five years and carried 18,000 troops to Europe and the Pacific. On the day his ship was launched, Mulzac recalled, “Everything I ever was, stood for, fought for, dreamed of, came into focus that day… The concrete evidence of the achievement gives one’s strivings legitimacy, proves that the ambitions were valid, the struggle worthwhile. Being prevented for those twenty-four years from doing the work for which I was trained had robbed life of its most essential meaning. Now at last I could use my training and capabilities fully. It was like being born anew.”

  Crew of SS Booker T. Washington with mascot “Booker” [photo from National Archives]

The Booker T. Washington was turned back over to the Maritime Commission in 1947. Despite his many years of service, Mulzac was never again given a similar assignment.

Captain Mulzac died in 1971, at age 84 years, without achieving veteran status for service to his country. Mariners did not receive veteran status until 1988 and only after a long court battle.

Joseph B. Williams

The first African-American Graduate of U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Joseph B. Williams Sr., was born in Annapolis, Md. He graduated from Hampton Institute in 1942 and from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in 1944. He served in the Navy during World War II and again during the Korean War. He sailed as a cadet-in-training aboard the Liberty Ship Booker T. Washington under the leadership of Hugh Mulzac.

After the war, Williams earned a Bachelor of Law degree in 1949 and a Master of Law in 1954 from New York University. He was appointed to New York’s Family Court in 1966 and he became an administrative judge of the criminal courts in 1982. In 1986, Williams joined the New York State Supreme Court’s Appellate Team, a position he held until his retirement.

Ship Construction

Many members of the construction crews of Liberty Ships (cargo ships built during World War II) were African-Americans who were permitted mainstream industrial jobs for the first time. Black women significantly contributed to the construction effort. At the Kaiser Richmond, California Shipyard, 1,000 women were among the 6,000 African-American workers. The women performed the same tasks as the men.

Below, Captain Robert Johnson, the current Admissions Director for the United States Merchant Marines Academy gives a great speech to prospective mariners in 2012.