Camp Robert Smalls

Camp Robert Smalls was a United States Naval training facility, created pursuant to an order signed April 21, 1942, by Frank Knox, then Secretary of the Navy, for the purpose of training African-American seamen at a time when the USN was still segregated by race.

[1] The camp was located inside the Great Lakes Naval Training Center in Illinois and named for Robert Smalls, a black naval hero of the American Civil War.

102 of those graduates were chosen to continue with specialized training, and the rest of the class was assigned to routine duties.

"[3] However, the Navy began training officer candidates at Camp Robert Smalls towards the end of 1943.

[5] Robert Smalls's great-grandson, Edward Estes Davidson, trained at Camp Robert Smalls,[6] as did Owen Dodson,[7] Larry Doby,[8] Clark Terry,[9] and Charles Sebree.