guard authorities.[13-17] Interestingly enough in view
of later developments, neither the committee nor the staff disputed
the War Department's right to withhold federal recognition in racial
matters, and both displayed little concern for the principle of (p. 319)
states' rights. Their attitude was important, for while the
prohibition against integration sat well in some circles, it drew
severe criticism in others. Unlike the Regular Army, the National
Guard and the Army Reserve were composed of units deeply rooted in the
local community, each reflecting the parochial attitudes of its
members and its section. This truth was forcefully pointed out to the
Army staff in 1946 when it tried to reactivate the 313th Infantry and
designate it as a black unit in the 79th Division (Pennsylvania).
Former members of the old white 313th, now prominent citizens,
expressed their "very strong sentiments" on the matter, and the Army
had to beat a hasty retreat. In the future, the staff decided, either
black reserve units would be given the name and history of inactive
black units or new units would be constituted.[13-18]

[Footnote 13-16: DF, WDGS Cmte on National Guard
Policy, to Chief, NGB, 20 May 47, sub: Integration
of Negro Troops; idem to Dir, P&A, and Dir, O&T,
same date and sub. See also Ltr, Maj Gen Kenneth F.
Cramer, CG, 43d Inf Div (Conn. NG) to Col Russell
Y. Moore, OCofS, 17 Mar 47. All in Office file,
Army Reserve Forces Policy Cmte.]

[Footnote 13-17: Memo, Dir, O&T, for WDGS Cmte on
National Guard Policy, 23 Jun 47, sub: Integration
of Negro Troops, WDGOT 291.2.]

[Footnote 13-18: Memo, Exec for Reserve and ROTC
Affairs, O&T, for Dir, O&T, 22 Jul 46; O&T Memo for
Rcd, 12 Aug 46; both in WDGOT 291.2.]

On the other hand, in 1947 citizen groups sprang up in Connecticut,
New York, New Jersey, Ohio, and California to agitate among their
state adjutants general for liberalization of the National Guard's
racial policy. As early as February 1947 Governor James L. McConnaughy
had publicly deplored segregation of Negroes in his own Connecticut
National Guard. Adopting the states' rights stance more commonly
associated with defenders of racial discrimination, Governor
McConnaughy a