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The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, And The Fight For Civil Rights (2014)

by Steve Sheinkin(Favorite Author)

4.24 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0804167443 (ISBN13: 9780804167444)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Listening Library

review 1: Black sailors during World War II were mostly relegated to positions as mess attendants and stevedores. Under white officers, the Blacks assigned to Port Chicago, near my hometown of Vallejo, California, loaded munitions on ships month after month. Pushed by the officers to work ever faster, the inevitable happened. In July, 1944, a massive explosion killed 320 service men with hundreds more injured. The real story unfolds when many of the surviving sailors refuse to return to the unsafe working conditions and are charged with mutiny. Mare Island Shipyard commanders threatened a firing squad, jailed the dissidents, and ultimately court-martialed the 50 sailors who refused to relent. Almost as shameful is the fact that Vallejo, which has had a large African American communi... morety since the 1940s, didn't teach us this important local history in the schools.
review 2: I’m so glad Steve Sheinkin left textbook writing to become a non-fiction book author. He seeks out the unknown. His writing is for upper elementary and middle school students but every adult I’ve shared his writing with have enjoyed the books. This book looks at black sailors during World War II who were court marshaled and convicted for insurrection because they refused to load ammunition with no training. It’s also a look at the early integration of the navy. As usual, Sheinkin’s writing reads like fiction, but his detailed documentation of sources prove it is non-fiction. less

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