Forgotten First B-1 and the Integration of the Modern Navy

by Alex Albright

History of the regimental band from North Carolina that was comprised of the first African Americans to serve the modern Navy at rank higher than messman. Most of the bandsmen were from Greensboro or associated with North Carolina A&T University there. They trained at Norfolk and were stationed at Chapel Hill and Pearl Harbor, where they were the largest American military band in the Pacific Theater. 70 images; extensive notes and bibliography; afterword.

196 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Jdblair · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recently read an article about a Navy band that was formed in 1942 and existed until WWII ended. It was made up entirely of black musicians. The only blacks in the Navy when the band was formed had duty as cooks and officer mess stewards. This was the first real effort to expand the integration of blacks into the Navy. They had an incredibly challenging job to succeed when the white world was still so prejudiced and intolerant of blacks. These musicians came from black universities, colleges, and high schools. The book talks about their duty in Norfolk, VA, Charlotte, NC, and Hawaii.
My wife gave me this book that was the basis for the magazine article. As someone who was born in 1945 toward the end of WWII, I had never heard of the B-1 Band. I gave the magazine article to a friend who spent 5 years in the US Navy Band and he had not heard of the B-1. The book also talks about a lot of the racism that existed, particularly in the military and in the southern part of the US. I found the book very interesting but disturbing at the same time.

[Natalie Fort · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was incredibly interesting. Bravo to Mr. Albright for writing and researching its content so well! I decided to read this book after attending a Q&A at the Navy Museum about the B-1 band and listening to the men's stories about the time that they served during the Second World War.