Just over a year before the attack on Pearl Harbor, 15 sailors assigned to the U.S.S.
Philadelphia wrote a letter to a Black newspaper detailing the abuse and indignities they had faced on the warship solely because of the color of their skin.
When they enlisted, the Navy had promised training and assignments that would lead to advancement, but the Black sailors soon found that those opportunities did not exist for them.
The plight of the group, which became known as “the Philadelphia 15,” faded from public attention as World War II erupted.
But the injustice they faced, and the stigma their discharge papers carried, lived on for more than 80 years.
Persons:
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Organizations:
Navy, Philadelphia
Locations:
Pearl Harbor, Philadelphia