Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2999-01-01

Thesis (Master of Business Administration)--Naval Postgraduate School, 2008. / Title from title screen (viewed Apr. 7, 2009). Advisor(s): Apte, Aruna U. ; Apte, Uday M. ; Rendon, Rene G. "MBA professional report"--Cover. "December 2008." Includes bibliographical references (p. 63-64). Also available in paper format.

Between 1893 and 1920 the rising tide of racial antagonism and discrimination that swept America fundamentally altered racial relations in the United States Navy. African Americans, an integral part of the enlisted force since the Revolutionary War, found their labor devalued and opportunities for participation and promotion curtailed as civilian leaders and white naval personnel made repeated attempts to exclude blacks from the service. Between 1920 and 1942 the few black sailors who remained in the navy found few opportunities. The development of Jim Crow in the U.S. Navy occurred in three phases. During the first, between 1893 and 1919, a de facto policy excluded African Americans from all ratings save those of the messman's branch. The second major phase began in April 1919 with the cessation of domestic enlistments in the messman’s branch. The meant the effective exclusion of blacks, as the navy had previously limited them to this one area of service. Between World War I and 1933 thousands of East Asians enlisted as messmen and stewards, replacing native-born Americans. The third phase, between 1933 and 1942, represented a qualified step forward for blacks as the navy again began to recruit them, though it limited them to the messman branch. In their circumscribed roles on board ship, black messmen and stewards suffered discrimination and possessed few opportunities for advancement. In the late-1930’s and early-1940’s public figures, including prominent leaders of the African American community, charged the navy, army, and defense industries with practicing racial discrimination. The navy, reflecting its general conservatism, responded slowly to demands for change. By 1942, however, the navy began detailing black men to billets outside the messman’s branch, a first step away from Jim Crowstyle policies. This thesis analyzes the evolution of discriminatory and exclusionary enlistment policies in the navy. While others have provided the basic outline of segregation in the navy, this thesis provides a more complete analysis of the navy’s actions in the context of wider American society. This thesis also confirms that the navy was a slow-moving actor which followed the society’s lead and did not substantially revise existing racial hierarchy.

Prior to 1917, the United States Navy only utilized public relations techniques during times of war or to attract recruits into naval service. Following World I, the Navy confronted several daunting problems, including the postwar demobilization of naval assets, the proposed creation of an independent air service, and a public desire for naval arms limitation which many officers believed would endanger the Navy's ability to fulfill its missions. These issues threatened the generous support that the Navy had received from Congress for a quarter of a century, and also hampered the service's attempts to incorporate new weapons systems into its arsenal and recruit high-quality manpower. In response to these challenges, the Navy developed a peacetime public relations capability during the interwar period, despite the fact that many senior naval officials placed a low priority on public relations. Their attitude led subordinates in different parts of the Navy Department to perform public relations tasks despite lacking official orders to carry out such work. Such efforts were haphazard, redundant, handicapped by tradition, and dependent largely upon individual initiative. To augment its meager capabilities, the Navy relied upon external groups, such as the Navy League, to lobby the public for naval expansion. The service also developed formal and informal ties to the mass media, particularly the rapidly expanding motion picture industry. These disparate elements attempted to convince the public that the Navy was a haven for morally upright masculine behavior, a service able to integrate aircraft and submarines into its force structure and keep their operators safe, and a vital national asset with value beyond basic national defense. During the interwar period, the Navy expanded and reorganized the ways in which it courted public opinion. By forging ties with motion picture studios, radio broadcasters, and the print media, it was able to improve the image of the service, attract high quality recruits, and gained the public support for its drive to gain the resources needed to modernize and expand the fleet. During the same era, naval officials became more adept at minimizing the negative impact of the accidents linked to the development of aviation and submarines. Developments of the era laid the foundation for the institutional development of public relations and enhanced media relations during World War II and in the decades that followed.

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Thesis (M.S. in Management) Naval Postgraduate School, March 1997. / Thesis advisors, Stephen L. Mehay, William R. Bowman. AD-A336 545. Includes bibliographical references (p. 119-120). Also available online.

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University

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