The President's Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services, or the Fahy Committee was formed by President

Harry S Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th Vice president of the United States, vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Frank ...

as part of

Executive Order 9981 Executive Order 9981 was an executive order issued on July 26, 1948, by President Harry S. Truman. It abolished discrimination "on the basis of race, color, religion or national origin" in the United States Armed Forces. The Order led to the r ...

. This committee consisted of

Charles Fahy Charles Fahy (August 27, 1892 – September 17, 1979) was an American lawyer and judge who served as the 26th Solicitor General of the United States from 1941 to 1945 and later served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court o ...

as chairman and six other members, two of whom were African-American. The committee's main purpose was to oversee successful

racial integration Racial integration, or simply integration, includes desegregation (the process of ending systematic racial segregation), leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of Race (classification of human beings), race, and t ...

of the US Armed Forces. President Truman abolished the commission on July 6, 1950, on what he termed successful completion of integration in the armed forces.

Membership

The committee consisted of the following 7 members: *

(chairman), former

Solicitor General of the United States The solicitor general of the United States (USSG or SG), is the fourth-highest-ranking official within the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), and represents the federal government in cases before the Supreme Court of the United States. ...

* Alphonsus J. Donahue, businessowner from Connecticut *

Lester Granger Lester Blackwell Granger (September 16, 1896 – January 9, 1976) was an African American social worker, and civic leader who headed the National Urban League (NUL) from 1941 to 1961. Early life Granger was born on September 16, 1896, in Ne ...

, president of the

National Urban League The National Urban League (NUL), formerly known as the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, is a nonpartisan historic civil rights organization based in New York City that advocates on behalf of economic and social justice for Afri ...

Charles Luckman Charles Luckman (May 16, 1909 – January 26, 1999) was an American businessman, property developer, and architect known for designing landmark buildings in the United States such as the Theme Building, Prudential Tower, Madison Square Garden, ...

, president of

Lever Brothers Lever Brothers was a British manufacturing company founded in 1885 by two brothers: William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme, William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), and James Darcy Lever (1854–1916). They invested in and su ...

* Dwight R. G. Palmer, president of the

General Cable Corporation General Cable is an American multinational cable manufacturing company based in Highland Heights, Kentucky, with sales offices and manufacturing facilities in several countries. General Cable manufactures and distributes copper, aluminum, and ...

John H. Sengstacke John Herman Henry Sengstacke (November 25, 1912 – May 28, 1997) was an American newspaper publisher and owner of the largest chain of African-American oriented newspapers in the United States. Sengstacke was also a civil rights activist and wor ...

, publisher of

The Chicago Defender ''The Chicago Defender'' is a Chicago-based online African-American newspaper. It was founded in 1905 by Robert S. Abbott and was once considered the "most important" newspaper of its kind. Abbott's newspaper reported and campaigned against Jim ...

William E. Stevenson William Erskine Stevenson (March 18, 1820November 29, 1883) was an American cabinet-maker, farmer, and Republican politician from Parkersburg, West Virginia. He was the third governor of West Virginia from 1869 until 1871. Early and family life ...

, president of

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

However, Alphonsus Donahue died in July 1949 and Charles Luckman was not active in the committee, reducing the number of members who submitted the committee's final report to 5.

Report

The committee's findings were published in their final report ''Freedom to Serve: Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services'' on 22 May 1950. The committee argued that segregation was detrimental to the military's efficiency, in contrast to the claims of pro-segregation officials including the Secretary of the Army, Air Force, and Navy.

References

External links

*
Freedom to Serve: Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services
' {{Harry S. Truman Presidency of Harry S. Truman United States presidential commissions