Book Review: Sea Change at Annapolis
Bradford A Wineman - Military Review
Feb 01, 2008
SEA CHANGE AT ANNAPOLIS: The United States Naval Academy, 1949-2000, H. Michael Gelfand, University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 2006, $34.95.
The key to H. Michael Gelfand's book on the U.S. Naval Academy lies in the double-entendre in the book's title, not in its misleading subtitle. The work is not a history of Annapolis over the past half-century, but rather focuses on just a handful of key social transitions within the Brigade of Midshipman. Gelfand argues that the Academy, while steeped in tradition and convention, has acted as an institution of social progress through its integration of racial minorities, enrollment of women, and elimination of mandatory religious service.
Using a wealth of sources, including several hundred oral histories, this study chronicles the cultural transitions' highs-the successes of recruiting African-American candidates and eliminating mandatory chapel services-and the lows-the awkward integration of female midshipmen. Gelfand also compiles a unique "catch-all" chapter on such facets of Academy culture as the honor code, student pranks, and instances of midshipmen engaging in liberal social protests-all of them tied to the volatile social changes occurring beyond the Academy walls.
While Gelfand connects the changes in Annapolis to the broader social movements in America (civil rights, women's rights), his argument might be better served within cultural contexts closer to the Academy such as the armed forces or the nation's university system. Juxtaposing Annapolis's transitions with those of broader American society may be a bridge too far. To be sure, a more inclusive admissions policy and elimination of compulsory church attendance can be identified as "progressive," given the rigid traditionalism of the Academy, yet they were implemented under political duress and decades after they occurred in the broader military and in other colleges. In actuality, they might represent institutional backwardness rather than enlightenment. However, this book provides a much-needed study of how the values of the federal service academies compare to those of broader American society and the obstacles that potentially separate them from national, social, and ethical mores.
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