portchicagomemorial

The Friends of Port Chicago has been working collaboratively for years with the National Park Service to expand the recognition of the Memorial by seeking to ( 1) convert the Memorial from an “affiliated” unit to a full, official unit of the NPS, and (2) promote greater public awareness of the events surrounding the tragedy and the historical significance of the mutiny trial as a catalyst for civil rights in our country.

The land reuse project at MOTCO (formerly the Concord Naval Weapons Station and formerly Port Chicago Naval Magazine) provides a unique opportunity to establish a Visitor & Interpretive Center to honor the history of Port Chicago and to promote and expand the public’s recognition of that history. We look forward to continuing working with the NPS and EBRPD to establish a Visitor & Interpretive Center that would include the following elements:

Exhibits of maps, original artifacts, photographs, and memorabilia from Port Chicago explosion and from survivors;
A space for audiovisual presentations, as well as other interpretive exhibits on the history and significance of the Port Chicago explosion and its impact on our nation’s civil rights history;
Classrooms for presentations, lectures and learning;
A small space for quiet remembrance and meditation, which could be used to display the commemorative stainedglass windows from the Port Chicago Memorial Chapel;
A staging area for shuttle bus service to the existing Memorial site, as well as to recreational trails and other nearby amenities sewing the community.

Contact Friends of Port Chicago Board President Rev. Diana McDaniel to learn how you can help!

In a Jan. 28 piece, Washington Post writer Emily Heil covers the retirement of Capitol Hill staffer John Lawrence (pictured to the right), who will be stepping down as chief of staff for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

For three decades, Lawrence worked for Congressman George Miller, who has been a faithful ally to the Friends of Port Chicago National Memorial organization.

The writer asked Lawrence: “What you most proud of?”

What I’m probably proudest of was in the 1980s, I heard of an incident that had occurred in Congressman Miller’s district during World War II. A munitions-loading facility called Port Chicago had exploded and hundreds of people had been killed, most of them black sailors who were involved in the loading operation …

A few weeks after the explosion, a large group of the remaining black sailors were court-martialed because they refused to go back to the unsafe loading facility and they were thrown in jail.

We began the process of creating a national park at the site of the explosion to honor the people who had been killed and to secure presidential pardons. And we ended up with the park and with President Clinton pardoning one of the sailors in 1999.

Now, the story of Port Chicago is taught a lot in schools and there have been some movies and TV programs about it, and it’s become part of the history of race relations in the 1940s in the military.

We’re so grateful to John Lawrence for his incredible support throughout the years!

Read the rest of the interview here.

Posts By portchicagomemorial

A Visitor & Interpretive Center: A Place to Honor the Memory of Port Chicago

Port Chicago Memorial: Proudest Moment for Top Congressional Staffer