Statement by the President on the Elimination of Segregation in Civilian Facilities at Naval Installations.

THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY has just submitted to me a full report on facilities used by civilian employees at naval installations in the southern States.

I agree wholeheartedly with him that the report is most encouraging for it proves conclusively that the Navy's policy of nonsegregation is completely effective.

There are, in all, 60 Naval activities on Federal-owned property in the South. Here are the facts:

1. Twenty installations reported, as of August 1st, that no segregation practices existed.

2. Seventeen additional installations, not initially covered in the August survey, also reported no segregation. One establishment--at Newport News--reported washrooms and toilets were segregated in a building located on non-Federal property.

3. Twenty-one further installations, which reported segregation practices in August, revealed segregation had been eliminated by November 1st. One installation--Charleston Shipyard--still reported partial segregation. At Charleston, segregation at drinking fountains and in cafeterias was eliminated, but washrooms are still separated. The Shipyard Commander stated that in these latter facilities restrictions would be eliminated late in December or early in January.

In summation, of 60 southern installations on Federal-owned property only one reported partial segregation. That is a record of accomplishment of which we all can be proud and I congratulate the Secretary of the Navy and his Department on a job very well done indeed.