Harry S. Truman Presidential Library & Museum

	DESEGREGATION OF THE ARMED FORCES
	ARCHIVAL MATERIALS AT THE LIBRARY
	Prepared by Dennis Bilger and Randy Sowell, August 1998

PRESIDENT'S SECRETARY'S FILES -- 24 pages. Includes a list of the members of the President's Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services, known as the Fahy Committee (appointed September 18, 1948); drafts of suggested remarks by the President to the members of the committee; progress reports from the committee to the President; and related documents.

WHITE HOUSE CENTRAL FILES -- Approximately 1000 pages. Includes correspondence, reports, and other material relating to the problem of segregation in the armed forces and efforts by the different services to desegregate units in compliance with Executive Order 9981; the resignation of Secretary of the Army Kenneth Royall; the organization and functions of the President's Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services (the Fahy Committee); and the views of citizens and organizations such as the National Urban League and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People regarding the integration of the armed forces.

PHILLEO NASH FILES -- Approximately 1000 pages. Includes correspondence relating to the Fahy Committee; speeches by President Truman on civil rights at Howard University and elsewhere; and material documenting the impact of this issue on the 1948 presidential campaign.

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OTHER PERSONAL PAPERS

CLARK CLIFFORD PAPERS--Approximately 200 pages. Includes correspondence concerning segregation in the National Guard; printed material; drafts of Executive Order 9981; and correspondence relating to the Fahy Committee.

GEORGE M. ELSEY PAPERS--Approximately 20 pages. Includes correspondence and speeches on civil rights and desegregation delivered by President Truman.

PHILLEO NASH PAPERS--Approximately 2000 pages. Includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, reports, and other documents relating to the Gillem Board report on African-Americans in the Army, which was issued in 1945; segregation in Army schools and at Army bases; the integration of these facilities; Communist Cold War propaganda suggesting that African-Americans would not fight for the United States; and the combat performance of African-American units as evidence to the contrary.

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FEDERAL RECORDS

RECORDS OF THE PRESIDENT'S COMMITTEE ON CIVIL RIGHTS--Approximately 5,000 pages. Includes correspondence and administrative records relating to the work of this committee in 1946-47, under the chairmanship of Charles E. Wilson, president of the General Electric Company; and correspondence with individuals and organizations concerned with the problem of segregation in American life, including segregation in the U.S. military. RECORDS OF THE PRESIDENT'S COMMITTEE ON EQUALITY OF TREATMENT AND OPPORTUNITY IN THE ARMED SERVICES--Approximately 12,000 pages. Includes correspondence and other documents relating to the organization and proceedings of the Fahy Committee, under the chairmanship of former Solicitor General Charles Fahy, in 1949-50; minutes of meetings; draft reports of the committee; material on the desegregation policies of the Army, Navy, and Air Force; a copy of the 1945 Gillem Board report on African-Americans in the Army; and newspaper clippings documenting press coverage of the committee.

ORAL HISTORIES

BRUCE CLARKE. U.S. Army officer, commander of racially integrated units. About 25 pages on desegregation of the armed forces. ROBERT L. DENNISON. Assistant Chief of Naval Operations, 1945-47; Commander of the U.S.S. Missouri, 1947-48; Naval Aide to President Harry S. Truman,1948-53. About 5 pages relating to desegregation of the Navy. RANDALL JESSEE. Kansas City friend and confidant of Harry S. Truman. About 2 pages concerning Truman's views on desegregation of the armed forces. MARX LEVA. Special Counsel to the General Counsel to the Secretary of Defense. About 3 pages relating to desegregation of the armed forces. ISAAC STOKES. Official at the Department of State, Department of Commerce, Economic Cooperation Administration, and Mutual Security Agency. About 2 pages on the desegregation policy of the Truman administration.

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