ABSTRACT
Since Colonel Charles Young’s1 graduation in 1889, no other black American had graduated from the United States Military Academy until Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., graduated in 1936, and only one other is believed to have received an appointment prior to the ending of World War I.2 Exactly how many blacks sought admission into West Point between 1889 and Executive Order 9981 in 1948 may never be known. But several applied, a few were accepted, and fewer still, only eight, graduated. The Naval Academy continued to lag behind USMA. Its graduation rate was zero for blacks before E.O. 9981. That, however, was not due to lack of attempts. Beginning in 1936 two additional black midshipmen entered the Naval Academy with no success. This chapter examines the struggle of those individuals who sought education at the military and naval academies.
