☛ Resolution No. 2023/XXX (PDF)
☛ Staff Report (PDF)
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ANTIOCH
WHEREAS, on July 17, 1944, the deadliest home front disaster of World War II
took place when a tragic explosion occurred at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in
Contra Costa County killing 320 men (of whom 202 were African American) and
wounding 390 (of whom 233 were African American);
WHEREAS, Port Chicago Naval Magazine was racially segregated and all
sailors loading munitions at the time of the explosion were African American;
WHEREAS, the surviving sailors were entitled to standard survivors’ leave but
were denied leave and ordered to clean up after the disaster;
WHEREAS, the surviving sailors were ordered back to handling high explosives
before an investigation could determine the cause of the deadly explosion;
WHEREAS, 258 ammunition handlers engaged in peaceful work stoppage rather
than return under the same unsafe working conditions;
WHEREAS, 50 of these men were unlawfully charged with mutiny, prosecuted as
guilty, and sentenced to prison;
WHEREAS, three weeks after the work stoppage, a Naval Court of Inquiry report
confirmed working conditions and practices enforced by Port Chicago leadership were
in violation of Naval safety regulations and federal safety code;
WHEREAS, the actions of the sailors, the public mutiny trial, and public
advocacy from Thurgood Marshall, Chief Counsel of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People (“NAACP”) Legal Defense and Education Fund (1940-
1961) initiated the desegregation of the Navy in February 1946;
WHEREAS, there have been several attempts over the years to appeal the
decision, but all have failed;
WHEREAS, starting in the 1990s, Congressman George Miller worked to
preserve the history of the Port Chicago 50 and worked towards their exoneration, and
in 1992, his legislation designated the site of the Port Chicago Naval Magazine as a
national memorial, which is managed by the National Park Service;
WHEREAS, in 2009, President Obama signed legislation to incorporate Port
Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial as a full and permanent unit of our National
Park System;
WHEREAS, the East Bay Regional Park District received part of the Concord
Naval Weapons Station through a Public Benefit Conveyance on July 19, 2019, and has
named the park the Thurgood Marshall Regional Park – Home of the Port Chicago 50,
which honors the courage and legacy of the Port Chicago 50 and all those who
sacrificed their lives in our nation’s ongoing struggle for social justice, racial equality,and workers’ rights;
WHEREAS, Naval historians now recognize the actions of the Port Chicago 50
potentially saved lives and changed the Navy for the better;
WHEREAS, in 2022, the City of Concord, the City of Albany, and the Contra
Costa County Board of Supervisors each passed resolutions supporting local, state, and
federal efforts to exonerate the sailors wrongfully convicted of mutiny following the Port
Chicago disaster of 1944;
WHEREAS, in 2022, the State of California successfully passed SJR-15 urging
the President of the United States and Congress to restore honor to the sailors unjustly
blamed for, and the sailors convicted of mutiny following the Port Chicago disaster, and
to rectify any mistreatment by the military of those sailors, including the full exoneration of those who were convicted at courts-martial;
WHEREAS, in 2023, US Representative Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11), US
Representative Barbara Lee (CA-12), and US Representative John Garamendi (CA-08)
introduced a resolution recognizing the victims of the Port Chicago disaster and calling
for the exoneration of the Port Chicago 50; and
WHEREAS, in June 2023, the Philadelphia 15 were exonerated by Assistant
Secretary of the Navy Franklin Parker. This case serves as an example and pathway to
exonerate the Port Chicago 50.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE ANTIOCH CITY COUNCIL DOES RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The Antioch City Council does hereby support these and all efforts to
exonerate the Port Chicago 50 and recognize their service to our country.
Section 2. The Antioch City Council recognizes the efforts that this case presents
in our nation’s struggle for social justice, racial equity, and workers’ rights.
Section 3. The Antioch City Council affirms support for all future efforts which
urge the President, Congress of the United States, and Secretary of the Navy to
take all necessary actions to restore honor to, and rectify the mistreatment by the
United States Military of, any sailors who were unjustly blamed for and convicted
of mutiny after the Port Chicago disaster, which occurred in the town of Port
Chicago, California, in 1944.
Section 4. This resolution shall become effective immediately upon its passage
and adoption.
* * * * * *
I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing resolution was passed and adopted by
the City Council of the City of Antioch at a regular meeting thereof held on the 8th day of August 2023 by the following vote:
AYES: 4, NAYS: 0