BARNES-SAMUEL

MEMBER  OF  GOLDEN  THIRTEEN

The Navy has practiced racial discrimination from time to time, and prior to World War II, African Americans were prohibited from becoming commissioned officers.  In June 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt issued an executive order prohibiting ethnic discrimination by federal agencies.  In January 1944, in response to pressure from First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and the Secretary of the Navy, the Navy began an officer training course for sixteen African American men who were serving as enlisted men.  In spite of efforts to prohibit all of them to succeed, all sixteen passed the course, but for reasons which have never been explained, only twelve of the men were commissioned on February 24, 1944, as Ensigns and one as a Warrant Officer.  The group has since been identified as the “Golden Thirteen”, the first Navy commissioned African American officers.  All thirteen men have since died but their legacy still remains and hundreds of subsequent African American naval officers view them as trailblazers and salute their sacrifices and accomplishments.

Samuel Edward Barnes was one of the original Golden Thirteen.  He was born January 25, 1915, in Oberlin, Ohio.  After graduation from Oberlin High School he attended Oberlin College, majored in physical education, and received a Degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1939.  In 1936 he began employment at Livingstone College in Salisbury, North Carolina, and following graduation from Oberlin College he returned there to be Director of Health and Physical Education.  From 1941 to August 1942, he was Boys’ Work Director and Assistant Director of Physical Education for the Cincinnati and Hamilton County YMCA.  He next served as Assistant Director of Health Physical Education for North Carolina State College in Durham, North Carolina.

On October 2, 1942, Barnes enlisted in the Naval Reserve and commenced active duty in the Navy.  He quickly established himself and had advanced to the rate of Specialist First Class (C) when he was chosen to attend officer training school at Great Lakes.  After being commissioned Ensign on February 24. 1944, he remained at Great Lakes as director of the athletic programs at the Naval Training Center until May 1945 when he was transferred to the Naval Training and Distribution Center, Camp Perry, Williamsburg, Virginia.  He remained there until September 1945 when he was transferred as Division Officer of Logistic Support Company #64, 3^rd Construction Battalion in Okinawa, Japan.  This was an all-Black stevedore unit that performed menial work unloading ships, a typical assignment for black sailors during World War II.  Barnes left active duty in October 1946 and was honorably discharged in 1954.  After the war Barnes attended Ohio State University and obtained a doctorate degree in physical education.  He then became a faculty member at Howard University where he taught physical education and coached various teams.  He was the athletic director at Howard from 1956 to 1970.  He also served on the executive committee of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the first black person to serve on the board.  Samuel Edward Barnes died January 21, 1997, in Washington, D.C., and his ashes are interred at Arlington National Cemetery.  He was survived by his wife who died in June 2019 and her ashes now rest next to her husband at Arlington National Cemetery.

NOTE:  In 2024, H.R. 8008, the Golden Thirteen Congressional Gold Medal Act, was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives to posthumously award the Congressional Gold Medal to the Golden Thirteen in recognition of their contributions to the country.  The bill successfully passed the House on April 15, 2024, but as of this writing (June 2025) the bill has not yet been passed by the U.S. Senate and therefore, has not been enacted into law.

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