Newport Sex Scandal
Encyclopedia
The Newport sex scandal arose in 1919 from the United States Navy
's investigation of illicit sexual behavior on the part of Navy personnel in Newport, Rhode Island
. It targeted homosexual
contacts between Navy personnel and the civilian population. Initially it attracted little public notice, but eventually the investigation—its methods and use of enlisted personnel
—and the trial attracted national news coverage and provoked a Congressional investigation that ended with Secretary of the Navy
Josephus Daniels
and Assistant Secretary of the Navy - future President of the United States - Franklin D. Roosevelt
being rebuked by a Congressional committee.
Hospital in Newport. Brunelle told Arnold the details of the subculture to which he belonged in Newport, centered at the Army and Navy YMCA
and the Newport Art Club, where local civilian homosexuals regularly made contact with one another and with naval personnel. Arnold undertook a personal investigation to verify Brunelle's account and documented his findings. He then presented his Navy superiors with detailed reports of effeminate
behavior, cross-dressing
, and parties involving sexual activity, liquor and cocaine
.
, Commander of the Second Naval District, ordered a thorough investigation and created a court of inquiry to review Arnold’s claims. On March 19, 1919, the court concluded that a thorough investigation was warranted. Thirty-seven-year-old Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt approved the court’s recommendation and asked Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer
to undertake the investigation.
When Palmer declined to dedicate resources to such an investigation, Arnold, a former Connecticut
state detective, was placed in charge of the work. With an infiltration approach in mind, he chose his investigators on the basis of their youth and looks. Over a period of several weeks, thirteen such agents submitted daily reports to Arnold that included candid descriptions of homosexual
acts and their participation in them. They rarely reported any hesitancy or qualms about their direct participation.
of 17 sailors charged with sodomy
and "scandalous conduct." Most were sent to the naval prison at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
in New Hampshire
. Two more were dishonorably discharged and two others were found innocent with no further action.
, under publisher John R. Rathom
, covered the trial proceedings daily, often with a critical eye toward the prosecution’s case. On January 8, 1920, Rev. Samuel Neal Kent, an Episcopal clergyman, was found innocent on all charges. In his charge to the jury in that case, the judge was at pains to discredit the witnesses who described their participation in illicit sexual acts. He reasoned that since no military or governmental authority could legitimately order them to participate in such acts against their will, they were either willing participants whose complaints were groundless or they were acting under the compulsion of unlawful commands on the part of their superiors. His analysis fueled opposition in Newport's religious community.
Within days, a committee of Newport clergymen drafted a lengthy letter to President Woodrow Wilson
denouncing the Navy’s activities in Newport, specifically the "deleterious and vicious methods" used, including keeping those charged confined for months without trial. Among the signers were Rev. William Safford Jones of Channing Church, Rev. J. Howard Deming, Rev. Everett P. Smith of St. Mary's Church, Portsmouth, and Rev. Richard Arnold Greene of Newport. The Providence Journal published the letter. It put the Navy on the defensive and named Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels
and Roosevelt. Assistant Secretary Roosevelt angrily charged that press coverage like Rathom's would damage the Navy's reputation to the point that parents would not allow their sons to enlist. Also at issue, however, were the methods employed in the investigation. Rathom and Roosevelt had a "tart exchange of telegrams" disputing whether anyone in the naval hierarchy in Washington had supervised the investigation closely or authorized the actual participation of investigators in illicit acts.
While investigations dragged, Roosevelt resigned from his position as Assistant Secretary of the Navy in July 1920 when he accepted the Democratic Party
's nomination for Vice President. He and the Presidential candidate James M. Cox
were on the losing end of Warren Harding's
landslide victory for the Republicans
.
On July 19, 1921, a subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Naval Affairs
denounced both Daniels and Roosevelt for the methods used in the Newport investigations. The New York Times
reported that most of the details of the affair were "of an unprintable nature," but explained that the committee believed that Daniels and Roosevelt knew that "enlisted men of the navy were used as participants in immoral practices for the purpose of obtaining evidence." The committee report declared that using enlisted men in this way "violated the code of the American citizen and ignored the rights of every American boy who enlisted in the navy to fight for his country." The committee report also made public the earlier determination of a naval court-martial
. To that court's assessment that Roosevelt's behavior was "unfortunate and ill-advised", the committee added "reprehensible." Daniels' rejection of the court's judgment, the committee declared, "is to be severely condemned."
Given how difficult all concerned found discussing the details of the crimes at issue, their language characterizes the questionable activities repeatedly without ever specifying the actions themselves. They refer to a "lack of moral perspective" and invoked the youth of the navy personnel: "Conduct of a character at which seasoned veterans of the service would have shuddered was practically forced upon boys." Their most explicit description said that the navy personnel allowed "to be performed upon them immoral acts." And the committee wrote that for Daniels and Roosevelt to allow personnel to be placed in a position where these acts were even liable to occur, was "a deplorable, disgraceful, and most unnatural proceeding." Finally, the committee acknowledged that naval officials were facing a serious problem in Newport and it denounced "immoral conditions" that were "a menace to both the health and the morale of the men in the naval training station."
Roosevelt rejected the report, noting that the subcommittee's two Republican members had condemned him while the one Democrat issued a minority report. He contested many details and interpretations in the committee's report, then went on the attack: "This business of using the navy as a football of politics has got to stop." He had nothing to say about the court-martial's assessment.
Any damage to Roosevelt's political prospects paled when he was stricken with a paralytic illness
while vacationing in August 1921 at Campobello Island in Canada
.
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
's investigation of illicit sexual behavior on the part of Navy personnel in Newport, Rhode Island
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
. It targeted homosexual
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
contacts between Navy personnel and the civilian population. Initially it attracted little public notice, but eventually the investigation—its methods and use of enlisted personnel
Enlisted rank
An enlisted rank is, in most Militaries, any rank below a commissioned officer or warrant officer. The term can also be inclusive of non-commissioned officers...
—and the trial attracted national news coverage and provoked a Congressional investigation that ended with Secretary of the Navy
United States Secretary of the Navy
The Secretary of the Navy of the United States of America is the head of the Department of the Navy, a component organization of the Department of Defense...
Josephus Daniels
Josephus Daniels
Josephus Daniels was a newspaper editor and publisher from North Carolina who was appointed by United States President Woodrow Wilson to serve as Secretary of the Navy during World War I...
and Assistant Secretary of the Navy - future President of the United States - Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
being rebuked by a Congressional committee.
Background
In February 1919, Thomas Brunelle and Chief Machinist’s Mate Ervin Arnold were both patients at the Naval Training StationNaval Station Newport
The Naval Station Newport is a United States Navy base located in the towns of Newport and Middletown, Rhode Island. Naval Station Newport is home to the Naval War College and the Naval Justice School...
Hospital in Newport. Brunelle told Arnold the details of the subculture to which he belonged in Newport, centered at the Army and Navy YMCA
Army and Navy YMCA
The Army and Navy YMCA is an historic Young Men's Christian Association building in Newport, Rhode Island.Mrs. Thomas Emery, a philanthropist, built the YMCA in 1911 to provide services for Navy members when Newport was a major center of Naval Operations. The YMCA closed after the Navy abruptly...
and the Newport Art Club, where local civilian homosexuals regularly made contact with one another and with naval personnel. Arnold undertook a personal investigation to verify Brunelle's account and documented his findings. He then presented his Navy superiors with detailed reports of effeminate
Effeminacy
Effeminacy describes traits in a human male, that are more often associated with traditional feminine nature, behaviour, mannerisms, style or gender roles rather than masculine nature, behaviour, mannerisms, style or roles....
behavior, cross-dressing
Cross-dressing
Cross-dressing is the wearing of clothing and other accoutrement commonly associated with a gender within a particular society that is seen as different than the one usually presented by the dresser...
, and parties involving sexual activity, liquor and cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
.
Investigations
Eventually, Admiral Spencer S. WoodSpencer S. Wood
Spencer S. Wood was a U. S. naval officer, the second commander of USS Oklahoma.-Life:He served with the United States Asiatic Fleet from 1889 to 1891He served near Hawaii in 1893 and 1894....
, Commander of the Second Naval District, ordered a thorough investigation and created a court of inquiry to review Arnold’s claims. On March 19, 1919, the court concluded that a thorough investigation was warranted. Thirty-seven-year-old Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt approved the court’s recommendation and asked Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer
Alexander Mitchell Palmer
Alexander Mitchell Palmer was Attorney General of the United States from 1919 to 1921. He was nicknamed The Fighting Quaker and he directed the controversial Palmer Raids.-Congressional career:...
to undertake the investigation.
When Palmer declined to dedicate resources to such an investigation, Arnold, a former Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
state detective, was placed in charge of the work. With an infiltration approach in mind, he chose his investigators on the basis of their youth and looks. Over a period of several weeks, thirteen such agents submitted daily reports to Arnold that included candid descriptions of homosexual
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
acts and their participation in them. They rarely reported any hesitancy or qualms about their direct participation.
Arrests and trial
Arrests began on April 4 and by April 22 fifteen sailors had been arrested. Each was brought before a military tribunal and heard men they recognized as former sexual partners provide graphic testimony of their encounters. Older naval officers were confounded by the terms used by the investigators. Once the operatives had presented their evidence before the court, the accused were encouraged to incriminate others and many did so in hopes of leniency. Brunelle did so, but withheld the names of his closest friends. The three-week military trial ended with the court-martialCourt-martial
A court-martial is a military court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the armed forces subject to military law, and, if the defendant is found guilty, to decide upon punishment.Most militaries maintain a court-martial system to try cases in which a breach of...
of 17 sailors charged with sodomy
Sodomy
Sodomy is an anal or other copulation-like act, especially between male persons or between a man and animal, and one who practices sodomy is a "sodomite"...
and "scandalous conduct." Most were sent to the naval prison at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard , often called the Portsmouth Navy Yard, is a United States Navy shipyard located in Kittery on the southern boundary of Maine near the city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It is used for remodeling and repairing the Navy's ships...
in New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
. Two more were dishonorably discharged and two others were found innocent with no further action.
Roosevelt's embarrassment
The Providence JournalThe Providence Journal
The Providence Journal, nicknamed the ProJo, is a daily newspaper serving the metropolitan area of Providence, Rhode Island and is the largest newspaper in Rhode Island. The newspaper, first published in 1829 and the oldest continuously-published daily newspaper in the United States, was purchased...
, under publisher John R. Rathom
John R. Rathom
John R. Rathom was a journalist, editor, and author based in Rhode Island at the height of his career. In the years before World War I, he was a prominent advocate of American participation in the war against Germany...
, covered the trial proceedings daily, often with a critical eye toward the prosecution’s case. On January 8, 1920, Rev. Samuel Neal Kent, an Episcopal clergyman, was found innocent on all charges. In his charge to the jury in that case, the judge was at pains to discredit the witnesses who described their participation in illicit sexual acts. He reasoned that since no military or governmental authority could legitimately order them to participate in such acts against their will, they were either willing participants whose complaints were groundless or they were acting under the compulsion of unlawful commands on the part of their superiors. His analysis fueled opposition in Newport's religious community.
Within days, a committee of Newport clergymen drafted a lengthy letter to President Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
denouncing the Navy’s activities in Newport, specifically the "deleterious and vicious methods" used, including keeping those charged confined for months without trial. Among the signers were Rev. William Safford Jones of Channing Church, Rev. J. Howard Deming, Rev. Everett P. Smith of St. Mary's Church, Portsmouth, and Rev. Richard Arnold Greene of Newport. The Providence Journal published the letter. It put the Navy on the defensive and named Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels
Josephus Daniels
Josephus Daniels was a newspaper editor and publisher from North Carolina who was appointed by United States President Woodrow Wilson to serve as Secretary of the Navy during World War I...
and Roosevelt. Assistant Secretary Roosevelt angrily charged that press coverage like Rathom's would damage the Navy's reputation to the point that parents would not allow their sons to enlist. Also at issue, however, were the methods employed in the investigation. Rathom and Roosevelt had a "tart exchange of telegrams" disputing whether anyone in the naval hierarchy in Washington had supervised the investigation closely or authorized the actual participation of investigators in illicit acts.
While investigations dragged, Roosevelt resigned from his position as Assistant Secretary of the Navy in July 1920 when he accepted the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
's nomination for Vice President. He and the Presidential candidate James M. Cox
James M. Cox
James Middleton Cox was the 46th and 48th Governor of Ohio, U.S. Representative from Ohio and Democratic candidate for President of the United States in the election of 1920....
were on the losing end of Warren Harding's
Warren G. Harding
Warren Gamaliel Harding was the 29th President of the United States . A Republican from Ohio, Harding was an influential self-made newspaper publisher. He served in the Ohio Senate , as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio and as a U.S. Senator...
landslide victory for the Republicans
United States presidential election, 1920
The United States presidential election of 1920 was dominated by the aftermath of World War I and a hostile response to certain policies of Woodrow Wilson, the Democratic president. The wartime economic boom had collapsed. Politicians were arguing over peace treaties and the question of America's...
.
On July 19, 1921, a subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Naval Affairs
United States Senate Committee on Armed Services
The Committee on Armed Services is a committee of the United States Senate empowered with legislative oversight of the nation's military, including the Department of Defense, military research and development, nuclear energy , benefits for members of the military, the Selective Service System and...
denounced both Daniels and Roosevelt for the methods used in the Newport investigations. The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
reported that most of the details of the affair were "of an unprintable nature," but explained that the committee believed that Daniels and Roosevelt knew that "enlisted men of the navy were used as participants in immoral practices for the purpose of obtaining evidence." The committee report declared that using enlisted men in this way "violated the code of the American citizen and ignored the rights of every American boy who enlisted in the navy to fight for his country." The committee report also made public the earlier determination of a naval court-martial
Court-martial
A court-martial is a military court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the armed forces subject to military law, and, if the defendant is found guilty, to decide upon punishment.Most militaries maintain a court-martial system to try cases in which a breach of...
. To that court's assessment that Roosevelt's behavior was "unfortunate and ill-advised", the committee added "reprehensible." Daniels' rejection of the court's judgment, the committee declared, "is to be severely condemned."
Given how difficult all concerned found discussing the details of the crimes at issue, their language characterizes the questionable activities repeatedly without ever specifying the actions themselves. They refer to a "lack of moral perspective" and invoked the youth of the navy personnel: "Conduct of a character at which seasoned veterans of the service would have shuddered was practically forced upon boys." Their most explicit description said that the navy personnel allowed "to be performed upon them immoral acts." And the committee wrote that for Daniels and Roosevelt to allow personnel to be placed in a position where these acts were even liable to occur, was "a deplorable, disgraceful, and most unnatural proceeding." Finally, the committee acknowledged that naval officials were facing a serious problem in Newport and it denounced "immoral conditions" that were "a menace to both the health and the morale of the men in the naval training station."
Roosevelt rejected the report, noting that the subcommittee's two Republican members had condemned him while the one Democrat issued a minority report. He contested many details and interpretations in the committee's report, then went on the attack: "This business of using the navy as a football of politics has got to stop." He had nothing to say about the court-martial's assessment.
Any damage to Roosevelt's political prospects paled when he was stricken with a paralytic illness
Franklin D. Roosevelt's paralytic illness
Franklin D. Roosevelt's paralytic illness began in 1921 at age 39, when Roosevelt got a fever after exercising heavily at a vacation in Canada. While his bout with illness was well known during his terms as President of the United States, the extent of his paralysis was kept from public view. After...
while vacationing in August 1921 at Campobello Island in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
Sources
- Garrrtt D. Byrnes and Charles H. Spilman, The Providence Journal 150 Years (Providence, RI: The Providence Journal Company, 1980)
- Kevin Cassell: "In the Navy: The Newport Scandal, 1919-21" June 24, 2007, accessed Dec. 6, 2009
- Gay and Lesbian Worldwide: Benjamin Brenkert, "The Newport Sex Scandal, 1919-21". March 21, 2003. Accessed Dec. 6, 2009
- Carroll Kilpatrick, ed., Roosevelt and Daniels: A Friendship in Politics (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1952)
- Lawrence R. Murphy, Perverts by Official Order: The Campaign Against Homosexuals by the United States Navy (Harrington Park Press, 1988)
- David O'Toole, Sex, Spies, and Videotape: Outing the Senator (Worcester, MA: James Street Publishing, 2005)
- The Providence Journal: Mark Arsenault, "1919 Newport sting targeted gay sailors, ended in scandal" April 13, 2009, accessed Dec 6, 2009
- TIME: John R. Rathom, Dec. 24, 1923. accessed Dec 6, 2009
- William Wright, Harvard's Secret Court: The Savage 1920 Purge of Campus Homosexuals (NY: St. Martin's Press, 2005)