Mifflin, Pa., 18 Jun 47, sub: Assignment of Negro
Marines, A0-1; Memo, Cmdt, Fourth Naval District
for CO, MB, NAD, Ft. Mifflin, Pa., 18 Jun 47, same
sub.]

Fort Mifflin agreed to take fifty black marines, but several officials
objected to the proposed assignment to Hingham. The Marine commander,
offering what he called his unbiased opinion in the best interests of
the service, explained in considerable detail why he thought the
assignment of Negroes would jeopardize the fire-fighting ability of
the ammunition depot. The commanding officer of the naval depot
endorsed these reasons and added that assigning black marines to guard
duty that included vehicle search would create a problem in industrial
relations.[10-39] The commandant of the First Naval District apparently
discounted these arguments, but he too voted against the assignment of
Negroes on the grounds that the Hingham area lacked a substantial
black population, was largely composed of restricted residential
neighborhoods, and was a major summer resort on which the presence of
black units would have an adverse effect.[10-40]

[Footnote 10-39: Memo, CO, MB, NAD, Hingham, Mass.,
for CMC, 26 Jun 47, sub: Comments on Assignment of
Negro Marines, AB-1; Memo, CO, NAD, Hingham, Mass.,
for CMC, 26 Jun 47, 1st Ind to AB-1, 26 Jun 47.]

[Footnote 10-40: Ltr, Cmdt, First Naval District, to
CMC, 30 Jun 47, sub: Assignment of Negro Marines,
2d Ind to AB-1, 26 Jun 47.]

The commander of the Naval Base, New York, meanwhile had refused to
approve a plan to assign a black unit to Bayonne, New Jersey, and
suggested that it be sent to Earle, New Jersey, instead because there
the unit "presented fewer problems and difficulties than at any other
Naval activity." The commander noted that stationing Negroes at
Bayonne would necessitate a certain amount of integration in mess and
ship service facilities. Bayonne was also reputed to have the toughest
gate duty in the New York area, and noncommissioned officers had to
supervise a white civilian police force. At Earle, on the other hand,
the facilities were completely separate, and although some complaints
from well-to-do summer colonists in the vicinity could be expected,
men could be bused to Newark or Jersey City for recreation. Mor