Hugh Mulzac
![]() | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (May 2017) |
Hugh Nathaniel Mulzac | |
---|---|
![]() Captain Mulzac | |
Born | |
Died | January 30, 1971 | (aged 84)
Spouse | Marie Avis |
Hugh Nathaniel Mulzac (March 26, 1886 – January 30, 1971) was an African-Caribbean member of the United States Merchant Marine. He earned a Master rating in 1918, which should have qualified him to command a ship, but racial discrimination prevented this from occurring until September 29, 1942.[1]
Life and career
[edit]Early life
[edit]Hugh Nathaniel Mulzac was born March 26, 1886, on Union Island in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines[1] (SVG).[2] Hugh was born to Ada Roseline Dunawa who was an accomplished pianist and a woman of pure African descent; Hugh's father, Richard Mulzac, was a mulatto planter and a builder of whaling ships and schooners. Hugh’s grandfather Charles Malzac (sic), was a white man and a native of St. Kitts W.I....[3] The Mulzac/Malzac family were descended from a French Huguenot galley slave who escaped the sinking of the ship, ‘Notre Dame de Bonne Esperance” off the coast of Martinique in 1687.[4][5][6][7] He attended the Church of England School in Kingstown, SVG which was headed by his maternal grandfather, the Rev. James Dunawa, a former student of Bishop Herbert Bree [8][9] Hugh had two older brothers Jonathon and Edward along with younger brothers Irvin, Lambi and James along with younger sisters Lavinia and Una.
Early career
[edit]Mulzac's life at sea started immediately after high school when he served on British schooners. He was sent to Swansea Nautical College in Wales to train for his ship masters license.[10] In 1916, Hugh Mulzac emigrated to the United States. Within two years he had earned his shipping master's certificate, the first ever issued to an African American.[11] He joined with Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) and served as a Captain on the SS Yarmouth[12] of the Black Star Line. However, disagreements with the UNIA lead to his resignation in 1921.[10]
For the next two decades, the only shipboard work Mulzac could get was in the steward's departments on several shipping lines.[13]
World War II
[edit]In 1942, Mulzac was offered command of the SS Booker T. Washington, the first Liberty ship to be named after an African-American. He refused at first because the crew was to be all black. He insisted on an integrated crew, stating, "Under no circumstances will I command a Jim Crow", and the authorities relented. With this, he became famous for being the first ever black captain, the first black man to obtain a ships masters license and the first black man ever to command a fully integrated vessel. Under his command, over 18,000 troops were transported around the world, and additionally "carrying vital war supplies such as tanks, aircraft and ammunition to the European front."[14][15]
Captain Hugh Mulzac also played a role in the National Maritime Union. The Union included a clause that stipulated that there should be no discrimination based on color, race, political creed, religion or national origin.
![](http://178.128.105.246/content-http-upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/68/Ss-booker-t-washington-1943.jpg/220px-Ss-booker-t-washington-1943.jpg)
After the war
[edit]After the war, Mulzac could not regain a position as captain. In 1948 he unsuccessfully filed a lawsuit against the ship's operators. In 1951 he made a bid for Queens Borough President under the American Labor Party ticket. He lost the election, having gotten 13,300 votes.[10][16]
Due to his strong ties to the labor movement, he found himself blacklisted in the era of McCarthyism.[13] At the New York state election, 1958, he ran on the Independent-Socialist ticket for New York State Comptroller.
Mulzac was a self-taught painter, and in 1958, thirty-two of his oil paintings were put on exhibit at one man show in the Countee Cullen Library in Manhattan.[17] In 1960 a Federal Judge restored his seaman's papers and license, and at the age of 74 he was able to find work as a night mate.[10]
Captain Mulzac died in East Meadow, New York on January 30, 1971, at the age of 84.[18]
Personal life
[edit]On September 29, 1920, Hugh Mulzac married Miriam Aris, a native of Jamaica; they would have four children; Joyce, Una, Claire and Hugh Jr. Their daughter, Una Mulzac, was the founder of a prominent Harlem-based political and Black power-oriented bookstore, Liberation Bookstore.[19] Hugh's nephew, John Ira Mulzac Sr., was a pilot with the Tuskegee Airmen.
In popular culture
[edit]- He was mentioned in the episode "A Nugget of History" in the television series The Suite Life of Zack & Cody on the Disney Channel.
- He and the Liberty ship he commanded [SS Booker T. Washington] was featured on Combat Ships - Hidden Figures (Season 4 Episode 3)
References
[edit]- ^ a b "African-Americans in the U.S. Merchant Marine and U.S. Maritime Service". U.S. Maritime Service Veterans. 2003-11-17. Retrieved 2020-10-12.
- ^ Mulzac, H., et al. (1963). A Star to Steer by. New York, International Publishers.
- ^ Nicholls, H. A (1891) Diary of a Trip through the Grenadines, Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA
- ^ Serres, E., et al. (1985). Déportés pour la foi : l'Assemblée de Puech-Martel (Nîmes) et les Quatre relations d'Etienne Serres, Laffitte reprints, Marseille, ISBN 2734801493
- ^ Tylor, C. (1892). The Huguenots in the seventeenth century : including the history of the Edict of Nantes, from its enactment in 1598 to its revocation in 1685. London: West, Nkwwman and Co.
- ^ Douen, E. O. (1879). Les premiers pasteurs du désert (1685–1700) d'après des documents pour la plupart inédits
- ^ Tournier, G. (1984). Les galères de France et les galériens protestants des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles. Montpellier: Presses du Languedoc. p. 296 Malzac brothers.
- ^ Diocesan web site
- ^ H. E. A. (1963). A Star to Steer by. New York: International Publishers.
- ^ a b c d Rydell, Roy (2000-02-16). "Maritime association honors Black seamen". People's Weekly World. Long View Publishing Co. Archived from the original on 2007-08-06. Retrieved 2007-02-25.
- ^ "First Negro Skipper". Time Magazine. 1942-10-05. Archived from the original on 14 October 2010. Retrieved 2007-02-25.
- ^ "Lloyd's Register of Shipping". Internet Archive. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
- ^ a b "World War II and Hugh Mulzac". United States Maritime Administration. Archived from the original on 2007-07-15. Retrieved 2007-02-24.
- ^ "Seafaring Pioneer Hugh Mulzac Born". Retrieved 28 January 2017.
- ^ Faria, Norman (1 February 2010). "A tribute to Capt. Hugh Mulzac". People's World. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
- ^ "Our Campaigns - Queens Borough President Special - Nov 06, 1951". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
- ^ "Mulzac Art On Exhibit At Library". New York Amsterdam News. 1958-03-01. p. 11. ProQuest 225928025.
- ^ "Census – Capt. Mulzac, 1st Black Merchant with Title, Dies" Jet, February 18, 1971, p. 12
- ^ Douglas Martin, "Una Mulzac, Bookseller With Passion for Black Politics, Dies at 88", New York Times, Feb. 5, 2012.
Further reading
[edit]- Mulzac, Hugh (1963). A Star to Steer By as told to Louis Burnham and Norbal Welch. International Publishers. ASIN B00M6APYTO.
External links
[edit]- SS Booker T Washington Images at the U.S. National Archive
- Hugh Mulzac Great Americans radio program. WNYC. 1943.
- 1886 births
- 1971 deaths
- African-American people in New York (state) politics
- Victims of McCarthyism
- United States Merchant Mariners
- United States Merchant Mariners of World War II
- People from Union Island
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines emigrants to the United States
- American Labor Party politicians
- Independent-Socialist Party politicians
- 20th-century African-American people