African American WWII Seaman Passport

United States of America – Seaman Passports

for the US Merchant Marines were introduced on February 23, 1942, as a wartime measure. This type of passport was short-lived and was discontinued on August 28, 1945. No fees were collected for such a passport issued to an American seaman who required a passport in connection with his duties aboard an American flag vessel. African American Seaman Passport

*In 1942, against overwhelming odds, Captain Hugh Mulzac became the first African-American merchant marine naval officer to command an integrated crew during World War II. Born March 26, 1886, on Union Island, St. Vincent Island Group, British West Indies, Mulzac entered the Swansea Nautical College in South Wales to prepare for a seaman’s career while in his youth. He became an American citizen in 1918 and continued training at the Shipping Board in New York. He earned his captain’s rating in the merchant marine in 1918, but racial prejudice denied him the right to command a ship. African American Seaman Passport

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