A lively and thorough archive kept by an African-American in the Second World War. James Walter Caywood Jr. (1923-1995) was born and raised in Mississippi County, Arkansas, and served in the 26th Special Naval Construction Battalion (a Seabees unit) in 1944 and 1945, spending most of his time at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.
The contents of this scrapbook are wide-ranging, but the most predominant are photographs of the Seabees in Hawaii--at work and at leisure. Caywood and his fellow sailors were African-American, and the photographs generally identify them in a neat hand. Also noteworthy are numerous pictures of women, mostly Hawaiian--pin-ups, postcards, photographs, and drawings. Newspaper clippings discuss the Seabees, African-American popular culture, and efforts to control prostitution in Honolulu. Almost the entire scrapbook appears to date from Caywood's war service. A few family photos pre-date his service. A page of 7 photographs show burning ships in the wake of the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. The only post-war item noted is a tailor's certificate issued to Caywood in Chicago, 1949.
Highlights include 6 color drawings by fellow soldier J.P. Ballard Jr. a page inscribed with 10 songs written by Caywood and his fellow soldiers, such as his own "Seabees": "When at last we're called above to Heaven's scene / There'll be a C.B. waiting there to greet the first Marine" Color photograph of sister Virgie in her khaki WAC uniform, inscribed by her to Caywood Inside back cover, a short list of the various ships Caywood worked on in late 1944.
with--a group of more than 100 8 x 10 inch photographs of airplane machinery, presumably used by Caywood during his training, each stamped on verso as confidential or restricted by the Navy Bureau of Aeronautics, October-November 1944 and a later three-color 16 x 10 inch placard for a radio program on African-American history: "Tune in. . . Cognition, Voice of Negro History. Every Sat. 10AM Radio WBEE. Remember, Without History, a Race Sleeps." Produced by Klent el'Woods, Documents of Truth Incorporated, [Chicago, circa 1961-66].