Charles Edward Minor Archive
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GUEST:
This material is about Charles Edward Minor, who was my great-grandfather. He was born in Virginia and joined the Navy in Washington, D.C., in around 1887.
APPRAISER:
What type of different ships did he serve on?
GUEST:
I think he started on the Dale, went to the Franklin, the New Hampshire, uh, finished up with the Constellation, but was on the Buffalo, the Brooklyn, the Vermont, a number of ships. Served in various wars, as far as the Spanish-American War; the Boxer Uprising, or Boxer Rebellion; World War I. Uh, he's been around the world approximately five times uh huh.
APPRAISER:
He was a busy sailor.
GUEST:
Absolutely.
APPRAISER:
Well, it really is a pretty amazing group. As a sailor during the Spanish-American War and World War I, he really did have a lot of different ships that he served on. What rank did he eventually reach in the service?
GUEST:
In 1907, he was appointed as a petty officer, but in 1917, he, uh, reached the rank of chief petty officer, which was pretty much unheard of. Uh, there were four African American chief petty officers at that time. His total service to this country was in and around 34 years. We're very proud of that, and, uh, I think that there's some folks that should know in this country that African Americans served in a very meaningful capacity in uh the armed forces at that time.
APPRAISER:
Absolutely. And here is a great cabinet card of your great-grandfather. We see him in his sailor's uniform. This would have been from the Spanish-American War period.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Here is his... basically the record of his, of his enlistment and the record of his service that he would have carried with him, which includes the different ships he served on, but it also includes his promotion to chief petty officer right here, in 1917. The enlistment is actually printed on vellum, or, or sheepskin.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
As a group that belonged to a white sailor, this would be quite rare...
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
...because of all the service that, that the sailor saw. But as an African American sailor, it's really amazing and rare, as you say. And there's much interest in preserving the heritage of African American soldiers, sailors, et cetera. Conservatively, at auction, we're talking $2,500 to $3,500 at auction.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And I'm just really glad you brought it in. Incredibly rare.
GUEST:
Just very happy to share it with this country.
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