Free Port Chicago Exhibit Opens In Concord

CONCORD, CA — As the Bay Area marks the 82nd anniversary of the Port Chicago disaster, a free exhibit in Concord gives visitors an opportunity to explore the World War II explosion, the Port Chicago sailors' fight for justice, and the tragedy's enduring influence on the civil rights movement.

The exhibit begins with the story of 202 Black sailors killed in the deadliest home-front disaster of World War II—and the surviving men whose fight for safer working conditions became a landmark civil rights case.

Visit Concord is hosting the free educational exhibit on loan from The Walking Ghosts of Black History at the Visit Concord Visitor Center, where seven interpretive panels examine the Port Chicago disaster, the sailors who served there, and the tragedy's lasting impact on American military and civil rights history.

The exhibit complements Port Chicago Weekend, produced by the Port Chicago Alliance and sponsored by Visit Concord and community partners, by extending opportunities for visitors to learn about the disaster beyond the annual commemorative events.

Port Chicago marks events that happened more than 80 years ago, when hundreds of young Black enlisted sailors worked around the clock loading bombs, shells, and other munitions at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine to supply Allied forces fighting in the Pacific during World War II.

At 10:18 p.m. on July 17, 1944, two ammunition ships exploded at the naval magazine, destroying the waterfront, shaking communities across the Bay Area, killing 320 people — including 202 Black enlisted sailors — and injuring 390 others.

The explosion remains the deadliest home-front disaster of World War II and exposed dangerous working conditions and racial inequities within the Navy.

Less than a month later, 258 surviving Black sailors refused orders to resume loading ammunition until safety conditions improved.

The Navy instead charged 50 men with mutiny. Their court-martials, observed by future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, became a landmark civil rights case that helped expose racial discrimination within the armed forces.

In July 2024, the U.S. Navy formally exonerated 256 Port Chicago sailors, acknowledging that racial discrimination, hazardous working conditions, inadequate legal representation, and procedural errors contributed to the prosecutions following the disaster.

Visitors to the exhibit can also learn about the broader Port Chicago Trail, which connects seven historic sites, including the Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial, Thurgood Marshall Regional Park — Home of the Port Chicago 50, Mare Island, the Treasure Island Museum, the SS Red Oak Victory, the African American Museum and Library at Oakland, and Golden Gate Cemetery.

The exhibit is free and open to the public Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Visit Concord Visitor Center, 2151 Salvio St., Suite T, in Concord.