Wesley A. Brown
Wesley Anthony Brown (born April 3, 1927 in Baltimore , Maryland - † May 22, 2012 ) was an American officer in the US Navy and employee of Howard University , who in 1949 became the first African American to graduate from the US Naval Academy .
Life
After attending Dunbar High School in Washington, DC , he began studying at Howard University, which he interrupted on May 2, 1944 to do his military service in the US Navy during World War II .
After the end of the war he was admitted to the US Naval Academy in Annapolis for officer training at the suggestion of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. , who represented New York State in the US House of Representatives from 1945 to 1971 . This made him the sixth African American to be accepted there, as well as the first African American to receive a diploma from this naval academy when he graduated on June 3, 1949. During this time he took part in numerous sports competitions for the Navy, including cross-country running competitions in a team with the future US President Jimmy Carter .
After his graduation Brown joined the engineering corps of the US Navy and served in this until June 30, 1969. Brown, who last served with the rank of Lieutenant Commander , found in the course of his service, inter alia, in Liberia , the Philippines and the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base , Cuba . He was also used in the Korean War and the Vietnam War .
After retiring from active military service, he became a civilian employee at Howard University in 1969, where he analyzed sports programs and sports competitions until he retired in 1988.
In his honor, the US Naval Academy's Wesley Brown Field House was opened in 2008 , which is used for the Naval Academy's sports program. Brown attended the building's groundbreaking on March 25, 2006 with then Commandant of Midshipmen , Captain Bruce E. Grooms , and at the building's inauguration on March 10, 2008 with Admiral Michael G. Mullen , Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff , Vice Admiral Jeffrey Fowler , Superintendent of the US Naval Academy, and the Governor of Maryland , Martin O'Malley , present.
Web links
- Wesley Brown, First African American To Graduate From Naval Academy, Dies At 85 . In: The Huffington Post, May 24, 2012 (accessed May 29, 2012)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Brown, Wesley A. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Brown, Wesley Anthony (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American officer in the United States Navy |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 3, 1927 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Baltimore , Maryland |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 22, 2012 |