History
Desegregation Through Entertainment: Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific as an Instrument of Military Policy
Presenter(s): Leana Sottile
Advisor(s): Dr. Jeffrey Koerber, Dr. Shira Klein
American musical theatre has served as a composite of historical and cultural memory through its history, but it has also been an instrument of supporting and upholding changing American military policy and culture. The most notable example of this is Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific, a 1949 musical set in the Solomon Islands during World War II. The critically acclaimed musical was celebrated by the American public for upholding Greatest Generation nostalgia associated with the heroism of the “Good War”, while also endeavoring to combat intense race relations in America through its progressive views on racial tolerance. Its depiction of the war was acclaimed by veterans and service members alike, which helped prompt the shows heavy usage by the American military to assist in the military policy and culture changes that came with desegregating the military, following Executive Order 9981. The show’s wide-sweeping military appeal ended up generating a nuanced relationship between the production company, Surrey Enterprises Inc., and the Armed Services that extended beyond servicemen attending the show in New York. Utilizing the archival collections of Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, and Joshua Logan, this project highlights the relationship and how the show became an integral part of Armed Services entertainment. This was achieved through a number of licensed productions to the USO, Department of Defense, military bases, and veterans hospitals both domestically and internationally. As the military was attempting to desegregate the service, the show’s strong anti-racist sentiment, which was cloaked in the veil of wartime nostalgia, was concurrent with the direction of military policy and culture. This made it a good musical for entertaining service members. Military usage of South Pacific usage was arguably a way to ease the blow of desegregation on the military by other means, in this case, entertainment, by peppering the thematic ideas about the importance of racial tolerance into a piece of unsuspecting, morale-building, military-supporting theatre.