U.S. Navy B-1 Band Reunion Collection
1942-2019, undated
Manuscript Collection #971- Creator(s)
- U.S. Navy B-1 Band; Albright, Alex
- Physical description
- 2.25 Cubic Feet, Program pamphlets, brochures, leaflets; printed forms; holograph notes; photographic prints
- Preferred Citation
- U. S. Navy B-1 Band Reunion Collection (#0971) East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA
- Repository
- ECU Manuscript Collection
- Access
- This collection is open for research.
Collection (1942 – 2019, undated) of documents, programs, notes, correspondence, interviews, and photographic prints documenting the history and membership of the U. S. Navy B-1 Band, the first All-African American band to serve in the U. S. Navy during World War II. Material includes historical and biographical sketches of the band and ites members, and photographs of the band, rosters, the music and lyrics, interviews, and documentation of race relations in North Carolina, the United States, and the United States military during the 20th century.
Biographical/historical information
U. S. Navy B-1 Band was the first African American Navy Band to serve in the U. S. Navy. It grew out of an April 1942 plan to establish a 44 – piece band for the U. S. Navy Pre-Flight School scheduled to be commissioned in Chapel Hill, NC in May of that year. The Navy Department then sent Chief Bandmaster C. E. Dudrow, USN (ret.) to select and train members of the prospective band. North Carolina Governor J. Melville Broughton assisted the process by establishing an advisory committee to help promote the band.
The 44 bandsmen that Dudrow selected with the assistance of the advisory committee came mainly from among the students of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, in Greensboro, NC; North Carolina Central University, in Durham, NC; and from Hillside High School in Durham, NC. The band was based at Hargraves Recreational Center during their early wartime service.
The band mustered at Raleigh on 27 May 1942, and then traveled by train to Norfolk, Virginia for 9-weeks of naval indoctrination. Approximately one-third of the men were college graduates and majority had at least two years of college education.
After basic training the band reported to the Navy Pre-Flight School in Chapel Hill on 31 July 1942. They lived in a new building, The Hargraves Community Center of Chapel Hill, formerly known as the "Community Center for Negroes" before it was renamed in 1973.
During the 21 months the band served at the Pre-Flight School, they performed at regimental reviews, war bond rallies and parades, throughout the region. They performed at Army-Navy E-Award presentations. They even entertained at ship launching. The B-1 Band also held a summer concert series, and played at various sporting events.
The Band was then assigned overseas duty, arrive at Manama Navy Barracks, Pearl City, Oahu, Hawaii, where they arrived on 24 May 1944. This remained their post throughout the remainder of the war. During this period, a few new members joined the band; but essentially the band's service remained unchanged as it toured the numerous army and navy bases in Hawaii.
In the years following the war, most band members completed their education and made professional careers for themselves. Many achieved success in the professions, or in business, or as performers. On 14 February 1981, the U.S. Navy School of Music awarded honorary degrees to the members of the band. The CBS network broadcast the event nationally.
In the years after the war, the B-1 Band members established a pattern of holding reunions in August or September of every year (1977-2019).
Additional Resources:
The B-1 Navy Band: A Symphony of Courage by Madison Howlett and Patrick Cash. Remembrance and Records: World War II Through Archival Collections series. The Ship's Log blog. Special Collections, J.Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina.
The Forgotten First: B-1 and the Integration of the Modern Navy by Alex Albright. Fountain, NC : R.A. Fountain, October 2013.
Scope and arrangement
The collection documents the history, membership, and reunions of the United States Navy B-1 Band, the first All-African American band to serve in the United States Navy during World War II. The material was compiled by the band's historian, Alex Albright, who also used it to write his book The Forgotten First: B-1 and the Integration of the Modern Navy (2013). Included are photographs, programs, correspondence, transcriptions of interviews, and notes created by Albright and members of the band.
Most significant in the collection are the chronologies and histories of the band written by its members and the biographical sketches created by members and Albright. The band is recognized as the first African Americans to serve in the modern Navy at ranks higher than a messman, and this material documents the challenges they faced in integrating the United States military during World War II, a time when the country and military were segregated. As a result, race relations in North Carolina, the United States, the Navy, and the broader military during the 20th century are well documented in the collection.
The role of the B-1 Band as musicians devoted to keeping morale high and performing for the troops is also well documented. Photographs depict the band in concert, marching in parades, and practicing (1942-1945). Also included are photographs and documentation of the smaller bands that formed within the larger group, which included a concert band, a dance orchestra, and a show band that performed skits and comedic performances.
The band's post-war legacy and impact are evident in the materials which document their reunions from 1977-2019. Materials include planning documents, programs, correspondence, and recognition from various groups highlighting the significant contributions of the band to United States military history. These include correspondence from notable figures and institutions publicly recognizing their history and impact.
Also of note are materials documenting the activities of the Rhythm Vets. The Rhythm Vets were a regional band comprised of members of the B-1 Band that gained popularity in Greensboro. They also performed the soundtrack for the 1947 black-cast musical comedy featurette Pitch a Boogie Woogie. The film was shot in Greenville, North Carolina, and is archived as part of the John W. Warner Papers (#519), East Carolina Manuscript Collection.
Administrative information
Custodial History
January 29, 2026, Addition #3, 2 cubic feet; Addition includes documents, photographs, programs, and correspondence related to the history of the United States Navy B-1 Band and their reunions (1942-2019). Material was compiled as research for his book The Forgotten First: B-1 and the Integration of the Modern Navy by Alex Albright. The material includes interviews and correspondence with the bandsmen and Alex Albright, photographs during their time enlisted and at later reunions, programs and planning materials for reunions held, biographies of band members, chronologies and written histories of the B-1 band, the history of the Rhythm Vets participation in the film Pitch a Boogie Woogie, and race relations in North Carolina and the United States during the 20th century. Gift of Alex Albright
Source of acquisition
Gift of Alex Albright
Processing information
Encoded by Mark Custer, March 17, 2008. Preliminary processing & preliminary inventory by Thomas Hall (intern), 7/8/2018; Processing revised & container list by Jonathan Dembo, 7/1/2019.
Descriptions updated by Ashlyn Racine, May 2023
Copyright notice
Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.
Metadata Rights Declaration
This record is made available under an Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Creative Commons license.
Related material
Calvin F. Morrow Collection (#0908) East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA
Simeon O. Holloway Oral History Interview (#OH0215) East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA
Abe Thurman Oral History Interview (#OH0216) ) East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA
John Gilmer Oral History Interview, (Oral History Collection #OH0214) ) East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA
U. S. Navy B-1 Band Group Oral History Interview (#OH0213) ) East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA
Roy Lake Oral History Interview (#OH0231) ) East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA
Wray Raphael Herring Collection (#0810) ) East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA
Alex Albright Collection (#1233), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA
John W. Warner Papers (#519), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.
Boogie in Black and White Documentary Collection (#1086), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.
Key terms
Personal Names
Holt, Roger FranklinCorporate Names
United States Navy B-1 BandUnited States. Navy--African American troops
Topical
African American musiciansAfrican American sailors