On May 27, 1942, in Raleigh a group of 44 black musicians, many of them affiliated with North Carolina A&T, enlisted at general rank in the Navy. The date is important as official Navy histories date the integration to June 1, 1942, placing this group at the forefront of efforts to integrate the Navy.
During World War I the only African Americans to serve in the Navy did so as cooks and stewards. During World War II President Franklin Roosevelt pressed Navy Secretary James Knox to integrate his forces. The UNC campus at Chapel Hill was selected as the site for one of the nation’s five Naval Pre-Flight Schools. Officer training commenced on May 23, 1942. The 44 new black recruits trained in Norfolk but they were assigned to serve in Chapel Hill and played their first concert on July 31.
Since the men could not sleep or eat alongside the white enlistees, they dined and bunked at what is now Hargraves Recreation Center, about two miles from campus. Duties included marching to campus each day to play as flags were raised and returning each evening to play “Taps.” In May 1944 the band was transferred to Pearl Harbor. Postwar many of the members took up careers as music educators.