Hugh Mulzac

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Hugh Nathaniel Mulzac
File:Hugh Mulzac.jpg
Captain Mulzac
Born(1886-03-26)March 26, 1886
Union Island in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
DiedJanuary 30, 1971(1971-01-30) (aged 84)
SpouseMarie Avis

Hugh Nathaniel Mulzac (March 26, 1886 – January 30, 1971) was an African-Caribbean member of the United States Merchant Marine. He earned a Master rating in 1918, which should have qualified him to command a ship, but racial discrimination prevented this from occurring until September 29, 1942.[1]

Life and career

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Early life

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Hugh Nathaniel Mulzac was born March 26, 1886, on Union Island in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines[1] (SVG).[2] Hugh was born to Ada Roseline Donawa who was an accomplished pianist and a woman of pure African descent; Hugh's father, Richard Mulzac, was a Creole planter and a builder of whaling ships and schooners. Hugh’s grandfather Charles Malzac (sic), was a biracial man and a native of St. Kitts W.I....[3] The Mulzac/Malzac family were descended from a French Huguenot galley slave who escaped the sinking of the ship, ‘Notre Dame de Bonne Esperance” off the coast of Martinique in 1687.[4][5][6][7] He attended the Church of England School in Kingstown, SVG which was headed by his maternal grandfather, the Rev. James Dunawa, a former student of Bishop Herbert Bree [8][9] Hugh had two older brothers Jonathon and Edward along with younger brothers Irvin, Lambi and James along with younger sisters Lavinia and Una.

Early career

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Mulzac's life at sea started immediately after high school when he served on British schooners. He was sent to Swansea Nautical College in Wales to train for his ship masters license.[10] In 1916, Hugh Mulzac emigrated to the United States. Within two years he had earned his shipping master's certificate, the first ever issued to an African American.[11] He joined with Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) and served as a Captain on the SS Yarmouth[12] of the Black Star Line. However, disagreements with the UNIA lead to his resignation in 1921.[10]

For the next two decades, the only shipboard work Mulzac could get was in the steward's departments on several shipping lines.[13]

World War II

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In 1942, Mulzac was offered command of the SS Booker T. Washington, the first Liberty ship to be named after an African-American. He refused at first because the crew was to be all black. He insisted on an integrated crew, stating, "Under no circumstances will I command a Jim Crow", and the authorities relented. With this, he became famous for being the first ever black captain, the first black man to obtain a ships masters license and the first black man ever to command a fully integrated vessel. Under his command, over 18,000 troops were transported around the world, and additionally "carrying vital war supplies such as tanks, aircraft and ammunition to the European front."[14][15]

Captain Hugh Mulzac also played a role in the National Maritime Union. The Union included a clause that stipulated that there should be no discrimination based on color, race, political creed, religion or national origin.

File:Ss-booker-t-washington-1943.jpg
Captain Mulzac and his crew in England after the maiden voyage of the SS Booker T. Washington.

After the war

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After the war, Mulzac could not regain a position as captain. In 1948 he unsuccessfully filed a lawsuit against the ship's operators. In 1951 he made a bid for Queens Borough President under the American Labor Party ticket. He lost the election, having gotten 13,300 votes.[10][16]

Due to his strong ties to the labor movement, he found himself blacklisted in the era of McCarthyism.[13] At the New York state election, 1958, he ran on the Independent-Socialist ticket for New York State Comptroller.

Mulzac was a self-taught painter, and in 1958, thirty-two of his oil paintings were put on exhibit at one man show in the Countee Cullen Library in Manhattan.[17] In 1960 a Federal Judge restored his seaman's papers and license, and at the age of 74 he was able to find work as a night mate.[10]

Captain Mulzac died in East Meadow, New York on January 30, 1971, at the age of 84.[18]

Personal life

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On September 29, 1920, Hugh Mulzac married Miriam Aris, a native of Jamaica; they would have four children; Joyce, Una, Claire and Hugh Jr. Their daughter, Una Mulzac, was the founder of a prominent Harlem-based political and Black power-oriented bookstore, Liberation Bookstore.[19] Hugh's nephew, John Ira Mulzac Sr., was a pilot with the Tuskegee Airmen.

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References

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  1. ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  2. ^ Mulzac, H., et al. (1963). A Star to Steer by. New York, International Publishers.
  3. ^ Nicholls, H. A (1891) Diary of a Trip through the Grenadines, Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA
  4. ^ Serres, E., et al. (1985). Déportés pour la foi : l'Assemblée de Puech-Martel (Nîmes) et les Quatre relations d'Etienne Serres, Laffitte reprints, Marseille, Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  5. ^ Tylor, C. (1892). The Huguenots in the seventeenth century : including the history of the Edict of Nantes, from its enactment in 1598 to its revocation in 1685. London: West, Nkwwman and Co.
  6. ^ Douen, E. O. (1879). Les premiers pasteurs du désert (1685–1700) d'après des documents pour la plupart inédits
  7. ^ Tournier, G. (1984). Les galères de France et les galériens protestants des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles. Montpellier: Presses du Languedoc. p. 296 Malzac brothers.
  8. ^ Diocesan web site
  9. ^ H. E. A. (1963). A Star to Steer by. New York: International Publishers.
  10. ^ a b c d Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  11. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  12. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  13. ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  14. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  15. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  16. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  17. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  18. ^ "Census – Capt. Mulzac, 1st Black Merchant with Title, Dies" Jet, February 18, 1971, p. 12
  19. ^ Douglas Martin, "Una Mulzac, Bookseller With Passion for Black Politics, Dies at 88", New York Times, Feb. 5, 2012.

Further reading

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  • Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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Lua error in Module:Authority_control at line 153: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). Lua error in mw.title.lua at line 392: bad argument #2 to 'title.new' (unrecognized namespace name 'Portal').

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