ding Notice 75, telling Special White House Assistant
Wilton B. Persons that it represented a practical answer to a problem
that could not be corrected by edict. Nor could he introduce any
changes, he maintained, adopting his predecessor's argument that the
Navy should "be alert to take advantage of its [segregation's] gradual
dissolution through the process of social education and
understanding."[19-45]

[Footnote 19-44: Interv, Nichols with Anderson, 18 Sep
53, and Nichols UPI Release, 21 Sep 53; both in
Nichols Collection, CMH.]

[Footnote 19-45: Ltrs, SecNav to W. Persons, 28 May
53; SecNav to Granger, 28 May and 29 Jul 53;
Granger to Anderson, 24 Apr and 2 Jul 53. See also
Memo, Chief, NavPers for SecNav, 11 May 53. All in
SecNav files, GenRecsNav.]

But neither the civil rights leaders nor the White House could be put
off with gradualism. Anderson's stand was roundly criticized. In an
address to the NAACP annual convention, Walter White plainly referred
to the secretary's position as a "defiance of President Eisenhower's
order."[19-46] If such barbed criticism left the secretary unmoved,
Rabb carried a stronger weapon, and in their 11 June meeting the two
men discussed the President's order to integrate federally owned or
controlled properties, the possibility of a Supreme Court decision on
the same subject, and, more to the point, Powell's public statements
concerning segregation at the Norfolk and Charleston naval
shipyards.[19-47]

[Footnote 19-46: White, Address Delivered at 44th
NAACP Annual Convention, 28 Jun 53, copy in CMH.]

[Footnote 19-47: Memo, Under SecNav for President, 23
Jun 53, sub: Segregation in Naval Activities,
attached to Ltr, Under SecNav to Sherman Adams, 24
Jun 53, P 8(4), GenRecsNav.]

[Illustration: SECRETARY ANDERSON _talks to a member of the fleet_.]

Anderson then proceeded to reverse his position. He began by (p. 486)
ordering a survey of a group of southern installations to estimate
the effect of integration on their civilian programs. He learned
segregation could be virtually eliminated at these shipyards and
stations within six months, although Under Secretary Charles S.
Thomas, who prepared the report, ag