Special Exhibitions: People of Honor

Title: Al Hall with other officers at Camp Hancock, Georgia, 1918
Date: 1918
Caption: Unlike some military programs during this era, Camp Hancock's officer training school was integrated. Over 1300 African American officers served during World War I.
Notes: Al Hall is at the far right.
Title: Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Williams, Seattle, ca. 1945
Date: ca. 1945
Caption: This photograph was from the Julia Brown Ruffin collection.
Mr. Williams is wearing a Navy uniform with the emblems of a Steward,
Petty Officer, 2nd Class. There appears to be some type of a medal pinned
to Mrs. Williams' jacket. Whether or not she is in uniform is uncertain.
Title: Navy officers, Bremerton, ca. 1943
Date: ca. 1943
Caption: John Henry "Dick" Turpin, born in 1876, enlisted in the Navy in 1896. He was a crew member on the USS Maine when it was destroyed in 1898 at the start of the Spanish-American War. He also survived a boiler explosion on the USS Bennington in 1905. Turpin was one of the Navy's first African American Chief Petty Officers, serving in that post on the USS Marblehead from 1917 to 1919. He retired as a Chief Gunner's Mate in 1925. When not serving on active duty, he was employed at the Puget Sound Navy Yard in Bremerton as a Master Rigger. He also qualified, in his civilian capacity, as a Master Diver. From 1938 through the end of World War II, he made inspirational visits to Naval Training Centers and defense plants. Turpin died in 1962.
This photo was probably taken at the Naval Undersea Museum in Keyport, Washington. Milton Hutchins boarded with Ernest and Irene Alexander in Seattle while he was stationed in Bremerton. Maurice Howard and his wife Dessie maintained their home in Seattle.
Title: Sam Bruce, ca. 1943
Date: ca. 1943
Caption: Sam Bruce graduated from Garfield High School in about 1932 and was a member of the 99th Fighter Squadron. He was shot down while flying in combat over Anzio, Italy, on July 27, 1944. He was the only Seattle-area Tuskegee Airman killed during World War II.