Video: Thuy Vu of KQED Newsroom on February 8, 2019, interviewed Walt Bilofsky, President of the Treasure Island Museum, and Mary Wardell-Ghirarduzzi, chief diversity officer at the University of San Francisco, on the Port Chicago disaster and the new exhibit at the Treasure Island Museum.
An exhibition on Port Chicago is on view at the Treasure Island Museum, Building One lobby, through July 9, presented by the S.F. Public Library and the Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial.
On February 9, 2019, the Treasure Island Museum, in partnership with the Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial, the San Francisco Public Library and the Friends of Port Chicago Memorial, presented a lecture and symposium on Port Chicago.
Friends of Port Chicago board member David Salniker was one of the panelists.
This Black History Month program presented one of the earliest steps forward toward civil rights, part of which took place on Naval Station Treasure Island, in the city of San Francisco.
75 years ago, during World War II, a massive explosion at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine near Concord killed 320 people, most of them African-American sailors ordered to load explosives with no training and inadequate equipment and safety precautions.
Weeks later, 50 sailors refused to resume that work. Their ensuing mutiny convictions, in a trial held on Naval Station Treasure Island, shone a spotlight on racism in the military, leading 16 months later to the desegregation of the Navy, and two years later all the armed services.
The program presented the story of the disaster and trial. A panel of experts discussed how these events contributed to the mid century modern civil rights movement, and how they inform issues still being dealt with today.
Oak Dowling, JD, Instructor at Dominican University presented The Port Chicago Story, with a panel discussion with: Prof. Rhonda Magee, USF School of Law; Prof. James Taylor, USF Dept. of African American Studies; Kelli English, Chief of Interpretation, Port Chicago Naval Magazine; David Salniker, Board Member, Friends of Port Chicago National Memorial; and moderated by Mary Wardell-Ghirarduzzi, Vice Provost for Diversity Engagement and Community Outreach, USF.