In addition, three sailors were rated engineman, one a fireman, and one a carpenter’s mate. Fourteen sailors, or 25% of Ohio’s Black sailors, served as seaman 2nd class (after serving as apprentice seamen). Twenty-nine sailors, or 53% of the 55 Black Ohioan sailors, served as mess attendants. Most served in roles such as mess attendants, stewards, cooks, or coal heavers, but their jobs and service were no less important than the other sailors. For context, Black World War I sailors served in the backdrop of the Jim Crow Era, and so, opportunities for Black sailors were limited. The Ohioan Black sailor data is revealing. Ohio’s Black sailors were from across the state, from Cleveland to Cincinnati. 55 of these 17,686 Ohioan sailors were Black, which represents less than 1% of sailors from Ohio. The lesson plan is “World War I and the Philadelphia Naval Yard,” and the first optional activity, titled “African American World War I Sailors, You be the Historian: Interpreting World War I Naval Enlistment Data,” examines interesting enlistment data. (Black sailors made up closer to 20% of the Union Navy in the Civil War, though the exact number of Black Civil War sailors is unknown.) A lesson from the National Park Service’s Teaching with Historic Places examines World War I Naval enlistment data. In 1917 there were more Filipino than Black enlistments in the US Navy. Black History Month provides an excellent opportunity to discuss these forgotten servicemen, including those who came from Ohio.Ħ,750 Black sailors served in the US Navy in World War I (1.2% of the US Navy). The service and sacrifice of Black World War I sailors is often overlooked.
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