A concurrent RESOLUTION

 

to request the department of transportation name the portion of the sea island parkway in beaufort county from its intersection with cowen creek bluff to its intersection with cowen creek bridge "montford point marines way" and erect appropriate markers or signs along this portion of highway containing these words.

 

Whereas, the year was 1941. The United States was preparing to enter World War II, and it needed recruits. However, President Franklin D. Roosevelt faced a problem. Hiring discrimination based on race was still the norm in the defense industry, but civil rights leaders were organizing for change. A. Philip Randolph, who organized and led the first African American labor union, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, was planning a march on Washington, D.C., to pressure President Roosevelt to open up the defense industry to Blacks. But the president resisted; and

 

Whereas, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, among other officers, was vehemently opposed. As the march grew closer, and under pressure from his wife Eleanor, Roosevelt conceded. On June 25, 1941, just a week before the march was set to take place, the president signed Executive Order 8802, prohibiting racial discrimination in the defense industry or in government. At last, all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces were open to African Americans; and

 

Whereas, recruitment of black men for the Marine Corps started on June 1, 1942, a year after the order was signed. The Corps looked specifically for men with the skills needed to build the facilities where black Marines would train. They quickly filled the 900-man quota, and that summer the first class of black recruits arrived at Montford Point in North Carolina. "When you got to the gate it was nothing there," said St. Louis native Walter Thompson, Jr. The training grounds were just a few miles away from Camp Lejeune, built that year for 14 million dollars, where white recruits were trained. It would be another seven years before the federal government intervened to prohibit racial segregation in the military; and

 

Whereas, when Montford Point was established, everyone in charge was White. The Corps' goal was to train Montford Marines to take over the training of future black recruits. By late 1943, the staff had chosen black Marines to replace the white instructors; and

 

Whereas, by 1944, 18,000 black Marines were serving. Of those, 12,000 were deployed overseas. Between 1942 and 1949, about 20,000 African American Marine recruits trained at Montford Point. "When the Marines finally allowed black volunteers to enlist, they set specific limits on how many could join the corps and what jobs they could do," an article from Black Camera noted. "One thing they weren't allowed to do: give orders to white Marines"; and

 

Whereas, Montford Point was decommissioned on September 9, 1949, in response to Executive Order 9981. Signed by President Harry Truman, EO 9981 called for the complete desegregation of the United States Armed Forces; and

 

Whereas, it would be fitting and proper to recognize the special place in American history the Montford Point Marines played in making this country a more perfect union by naming a portion of highway in Beaufort County in their honor. Now, therefore,

 

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:

 

That the members of the South Carolina General Assembly, by this resolution, request the Department of Transportation name the portion of the Sea Island Parkway in Beaufort County from its intersection with Cowen Creek Bluff to its intersection with Cowen Creek Bridge "Montford Point Marines Way" and erect appropriate markers or signs along this portion of highway containing these words.

 

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to the Department of Transportation.

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