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Tue, 09.08.2009

U.S. Merchant Ship, SS Booker T. Washington Launched

On this date in 1942, The SS Booker T. Washington was launched at Wilmington, Delaware.

It was the first U.S. Merchant Ship commanded by a Black captain, Hugh Mulzac. The SS Washington was the first of 17 Liberty Ships (out of 2,700) named for a Black man.  Marian Anderson christened the SS Washington as its first honor.

Under Mulzac’s command, the SS Washington made 22 round-trip voyages between 1942-47, carrying 18,000 troops to Europe and the Pacific through dangerous waters.

New Poem Each Day

Poetry Corner

Mahogany men with massive hands and broad mustaches who outlived wars and married feisty oak-imaged women be tight with money tender of heart and close to me a gallery of... UNCLES by Nikki Finney
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