![David Ferguson, a Montford Point Marine gives the memorial garden a drink in this archived photo dated Aug 21, 2015. Photo/Renee Carrerre](https://levees.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/David-Ferguson-300x300.jpg)
David Ferguson, a Montford Point Marine, gives the memorial garden a drink in this archived photo dated Aug 21, 2015. Photo/Renee Carrere
In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1941 executive order established the Fair Employment Practices Commission. This opened the door to “full participation in the defense program by all persons regardless of color, race, creed or national origin.”
The Marine Corps would eventually adhere to Roosevelt’s demands to start enlisting African Americans in June 1942.
Marine Corps put out a call to enlist 900 African American recruits between the ages of 19 and 29. Upon entering the military, “Colored” would be stamped upon their service record book. And the Marine Corps kept them segregated and established a training base at Montford Point in North Carolina.
They would come to be known as the Montford Point Marines.