USNS Marine Lynx During the First Years of the Desegregated Army Photo Archive, Korean War, 1950s

Military Desegregation U S. Navy

Photograph

USNS Marine Lynx During the First Years of the Desegregated Army Photographic archive circa 1950-1953 at Pacific military installations,, with particularly notable views of Black and white troops gathered together on the transport’s crowded decks. Acquired by the Navy in July 1950, USNS Marine Lynx carried troops to Japan and Korea throughout the Korean War. These photographs document military transportation during the implementation of President Truman’s 1948 desegregation order, as wartime demands accelerated the assignment of African American soldiers to integrated units. The ship’s Pacific service extended back to the immediate postwar movement of occupation troops and returning veterans.

Photo archive of 54 silver gelatin photographs measuring between 2 × 3 and 5 × 7 inches, accompanied by an original envelope with pencil annotations. A substantial numbered sequence shows servicemen filling successive deck levels beneath the clearly visible “Marine Lynx” name. Black and white soldiers appear within the same crowded shipboard spaces, providing a visual record of interracial military life during desegregation. Smaller photographs show men socializing aboard ship and posing beside military vehicles, including a jeep outside the “South Beach Dispatch Office.” Other views depict Asian civilians and vessels bearing Chinese characters. These broaden the archive’s Pacific setting and invite comparison with the ship’s documented civilian transport service to China. Marine Lynx brought returning missionaries and their families to Shanghai in late 1946, including a voyage arriving December 31; the photographs themselves do not establish that particular arrival.

The accompanying envelope bears contemporary pencil notations. Photographs show scattered fading, creasing, and edge wear, with pronounced fading to several smaller prints. The envelope is creased and worn, with small edge tears. Photographs clear and in overall very good condition.

Item #22923

Price: $750.00