ADAMS-ALTON

NAVY’S  FIRST  BLACK  BANDMASTER

Alton Augustus Adams is remembered primarily as the first black bandmaster in the U.S. Navy.  He was born on November 4, 1889, in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, Danish West Indies, attended elementary school and later apprenticed to become a carpenter and then a shoemaker.  During this time he nurtured a passion for music, learned to play the piccolo and flute, and joined the St. Thomas Municipal Band in 1906.  In 1910 he left the band to form his own ensemble, the Adams Juvenile Band which rapidly became part of the social fabric in Charlotte Amalie, playing for a variety of social and charitable events in Charlotte Amalie.  As his band gained attention, leading musicians including John Philip Sousa became interested in Adams.

On the eve of the entrance into world War One, the U.S. purchased the Virgin Islands from Denmark.  On June 2, 1917, Adams and his entire Juvenile Band were enlisted into the U.S. Navy, thus making Adams the first black bandmaster in the Navy.  The induction of the entire band was the first African-Americans to receive official Navy musical appointments and was seen as a way to build a bridge between an all-white naval administration and a predominantly black population.  In his position as bandmaster, Adams was given the rate of Chief Petty Officer, making him one of the first blacks to reach this rating.  Induction of the band helped to defuse the racial tension that plagued the Navy’s presence on the Virgin Islands during World War One as well as functioning to educate naval administrations about the needs and attitudes of Virgin Islanders.  Additionally, Adams continued to grow into his role as a social leader on the islands, became an officer in the local Red Cross chapter, helped found the public library in Charlotte Amalie, and assisted in developing the islands’ public-school music education program. 

A highpoint of Adams’ naval career was a 1924 tour of his band on the U.S. eastern seaboard which won accolades from concert and radio audiences.  In 1933, Adams retired from active duty and joined the Naval Fleet Reserve, returning to St. Thomas where he resumed his duties for the public school program.  With the advent of World War Two, Adams was recalled to active duty and sent to Guantanamo Bay where he took over an all-white unit band.  He received permission to reinstate eight former bandsmen, thus creating the first racially integrated band sanctioned by the Navy.  The next year Adams and the other islanders were transferred to St. Thomas to reform the original unit, again as an all-black ensemble.  The band was transferred again in 1944, this time to Puerto Rico where Adams retired from the Navy permanently in 1945.

Returning to St. Thomas, Adams fused his interest in business and the community, and was appointed to the governing committee of the St. Thomas Power Authority.  In 1947, answering the call to increase the island’s number of hotel rooms, Adams opened his home as the Adams 1799 Guest House which he operated until about 1983.  He also served as a reporter for the Associated Press, the Associated Negro Press, and a number of other publications.  Although he never ran for public office, he was closely involved in island politics as an advisor and editorial commentator.

During his career Adams composed a great deal of band music, often in the manner of John Philip Sousa.  “The Governor’s Own” (1921) and “The Virgin Islands March” (1919) are two of his most famous compositions.  The latter was quickly adopted as an unofficial anthem for the Virgin Islands, but became the official anthem in 1963.  Alton Augustus Adams died at the age of 98 on November 23, 1987, and is buried at Cemetery #1 in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, where his memorial marker carries the inscription:  BMSTR  -  US NAVY  -  WORLD WAR I  -  WORLD WAR II.

Submitted by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)