Two Panoramic Photographs of Company 771 Taken at the U.S. Naval Training Center in Great Lakes, Illinois

Great Lakes, IL: [U.S. Navy], 1945. Two panoramic black-and-white photographs, 49x25.5cm and 46.4x20.3cm. Light handling creases with minor wear to corners, although lower left corner of larger image partially stripped. Faint toning with minor dust soiling. Spotting to verso of both images. Very Good.

This striking pair of panoramic photographs comprises the official portraits of African-American Naval Company 771 at the Great Lakes U.S. Naval Training Station at the close of World War II. Located on the shore of Lake Michigan just south of Waukegan, Illinois, the Great Lakes Training Station was the U.S. Navy’s principal training facility during the war and the sole site for Black naval recruits who, from 1942 through the end of the conflict, were trained at a segregated installation, Camp Robert Smalls, within the larger complex. The earlier of the two photographs, dated July 24, 1945, is a traditional group portrait showing the company’s 127 men kneeling and standing on bleachers. The second, larger photograph, dated August 10, 1945, bears the title “Last Negro Company of Great Lakes, Ill., Winners of All Competitive Flags” and shows the men standing at attention in formation in front of a training vessel.

Price: $575.00

Item #10623