The Port Chicago 50, Steve Sheinkin
Nonfiction
Booktalk: During World War II, the U.S. military was segregated. In the Navy, Black sailors were not allowed to work on ships except to cook and clean. Most of them would never go to sea at all. One group of these men were assigned to work at Port Chicago in California, loading ammunition and bombs onto ships.
It was dangerous work, and the men received almost no training. Plus, the white officers were constantly trying to get them to work faster, racing and placing bets. Not surprisingly, this ended in disaster: on July 17th, 1944, a giant explosion killed more than 300 men.
After that, many of the remaining sailors refused to continue loading ammunition unless the dangerous working conditions changed. 50 of them stood up to their commanding officers even when the officers threatened to charge them with mutiny – which carried a death sentence if they were convicted.
The Port Chicago 50 traces the events of the Port Chicago disaster, from the time the sailors were first stationed at the port all the way through their mutiny trials and after. This nonfiction book tells their fascinating and important story through their own words, introducing readers to fifty civil rights heroes who won’t be forgotten.
Similar titles: Steve Sheinkin is also the author of Caudill nominee Bomb, which is a great read. For more about segregation during wartime, try Courage Has No Color (Tanya Lee Stone).