The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights

by Steve Sheinkin (Author)

Reading Level: 6th − 7th Grade
On July 17, 1944, a massive explosion rocked the segregated Navy base at Port Chicago, California, killing more than 300 sailors who were at the docks, critically injuring off-duty men in their bunks, and shattering windows up to a mile away. On August 9th, 244 men refused to go back to work until unsafe and unfair conditions at the docks were addressed. When the dust settled, fifty were charged with mutiny, facing decades in jail and even execution. This is the story of the p rejudice that faced black men and women in America's armed forces during World War II, and a look at those who gave their lives in service of a country where they lacked the most basic rights.
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Publishers Weekly

Starred Review

Sheinkin delivers another meticulously researched WWII story, one he discovered while working on his Newbery Honor book, Bomb. The accidental explosion at Port Chicago, a California Navy base where African-American servicemen loaded ammunition onto ships, killed more than 300 soldiers and injured nearly 400. The author carefully details how this long-forgotten event from 1944 was pivotal in helping end segregation in the military. Though not as fast-paced as Bomb, the dialogue-laden narrative draws heavily on past interviews with the servicemen, telling the story from their perspective. Ordered to load ammunition without proper training--and often in a competitive atmosphere fostered by their white officers--50 African-American sailors refused to return to the same work after the disaster. Readers get a front-row seat at their mutiny trial through myriad trial transcript excerpts. Tried and convicted, their convictions still stand today despite efforts to expunge the now-deceased men's records. Archival photos appear throughout, and an extensive bibliography, source notes, and index conclude this gripping, even horrific account of a battle for civil rights predating Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. Ages 10-14. Agent: Susan Cohen, Writers House. (Jan.) ■

Copyright 2013 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

School Library Journal

Starred Review

Gr 7 Up--In the summer of 1944, 50 sailors, all of them African American, were tried and convicted of mutiny by the U.S. Navy. They had refused to follow a direct order of loading dangerous rockets and munitions on ships bound for battle in the Pacific after an enormous explosion had killed more than 300 of their fellow sailors and other civilians working on the dock. At the heart of this story is the rampant racism that permeated the military at all levels, leaving minority sailors and soldiers to do the drudge work almost exclusively while their white counterparts served on the front lines. Through extensive research, Sheinkin effectively re-creates both the tense atmosphere at Port Chicago before and after the disaster as well as the events that led to the men's refusal of this one particular order that they felt put them directly in harm's way. Much of the tension in this account stems from the growing frustration that readers are meant to feel as bigotry and discrimination are encountered at every turn and at every level of the military. There is a wealth of primary-source material here, including interviews with the convicted sailors, court records, photographs, and other documents, all of which come together to tell a story that clearly had a huge impact on race relations in the military. This is a story that remains largely unknown to many Americans, and is one of the many from World War II about segregation and race that is important to explore with students. Abundant black-and-white photos, extensive source notes, and a thorough bibliography are included.--Jody Kopple, Shady Hill School, Cambridge, MA

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

"Sheinkin delivers another meticulously researched WWII story, one he discovered while working on his Newbery Honor book, Bomb....Archival photos appear throughout, and an extensive bibliography, source notes, and index conclude this gripping, even horrific account of a battle for civil rights predating Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr." —"Publishers Weekly", starred review "In this thoroughly researched and well-documented drama, Sheinkin lets the participants tell the story, masterfully lacing the narrative with extensive quotations drawn from oral histories, information from trial transcripts and archival photographs. The event, little known today, is brought to life and placed in historical context, with Eleanor Roosevelt, Thurgood Marshall and Jackie Robinson figuring in the story." - "Kirkus Reviews", starred review
Steve Sheinkin
Steve Sheinkin is the award-winning author of several fascinating books on American history, including The Notorious Benedict Arnold, which won the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults, the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award for nonfiction, and received three starred reviews; and Bomb, a National Book Award finalist and recipient of five starred reviews. He lives in Saratoga Springs, NY
Classification
Non-fiction
ISBN-13
9781596437968
Lexile Measure
950
Guided Reading Level
Y
Publisher
Roaring Brook Press
Publication date
January 20, 2014
Series
-
BISAC categories
JNF018010 - Juvenile Nonfiction | People & Places | United States - African-American
JNF053140 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Social Topics | Prejudice & Racism
JNF025210 - Juvenile Nonfiction | History | United States/20th Century
JNF025130 - Juvenile Nonfiction | History | Military & Wars
Library of Congress categories
History
African Americans
United States
20th century
Civil rights
World War, 1939-1945
Participation, African American
Port Chicago Mutiny, Port Chicago, Calif., 19
Port Chicago Mutiny Trial, San Francisco, Cal
African American sailors
Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards
Winner 2014 - 2014
National Book Awards
Finalist 2014 - 2014
Texas Lone Star Reading List
Commended 2015 - 2015
Cybils
Finalist 2014 - 2014
Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award
Nominee 2016 - 2016
Capitol Choices: Noteworthy Books for Children and Teens
Recommended 2015 - 2015

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