“It’s Gonna Be A Gosh Darn Good Affair”: The Lackey USO Club

During World War II, various USOs were established across Virginia. The United Service Organizations is a nonprofit organization that provides military service members and their families with support, services, and entertainment. The organization’s clubs saw it as their responsibility to provide a comfortable space and a “home away from home” for enlisted men. The USOs in Virginia were established by the surrounding communities, with the majority operated by the YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association). All USOs were segregated, as was the military during World War II. This included the Lackey USO near Yorktown.

Lackey was a community near Yorktown, Virginia, the original version of which no longer exists. It is considered a “lost town” of Virginia. Historical evidence suggests it began as a community of free people of color before the Civil War. During World War I, much of the local land owned by African Americans was taken by the government to create the Naval Mine Depot. Lackey’s former residents dispersed. Another community of the same name later emerged in the Yorktown Road area.

The Lackey USO operated from March 8, 1943, to March 12, 1947, and was attended by 351,108 servicemen. Lackey and the surrounding Yorktown area during World War II did not have any recreational facilities for African American servicemen. Before the establishment of the Lackey USO, the “only” considered outlet for enlisted African American men was loitering around country roads. The club house provided dances, parties, educational meetings, movies, Vesper services, games, musical programs, showers, an information center, counseling services, and assistance in locating housing for their families. The Lackey USO Summer Beach Extension offered picnics, swimming, badminton, horseshoe pitching, volleyball, and fishing.

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Ninety-five percent of the attendance at the Lackey USO came from the Navy, which makes sense considering its location. The Naval Mine Depot, across the road from the USO, made up 90 percent of the attendees. Transportation was an issue, explaining why servicemen had a harder time getting to the Lackey USO. But nevertheless, it was visited and used by military personnel from the Mine Warfare School, Camp Hill, and Camp Peary over its four years of operation.

The Lackey USO Summer Beach Extension was created for African American servicemen as well as their families and guests. It was located on what is now Yorktown Beach on the York River, about two miles from the Lackey USO Club. An agreement was made with the National Parks Service in 1944 that allowed a temporary bathhouse to be built on Yorktown Beach. The beach house included showers and dressing rooms for servicemen, families, and guests. The beach house was built by the servicemen at the nearby Naval Mine Depot, some of them both building the beach house and using it for recreational summer fun. On opening day there were 125 servicemen from the Naval Mine Depot. The Summer Extension Service of the Lackey USO operated from June 1, 1945, to September 15, 1945. Over the three and half months the summer service was provided, 13,961 servicemen and guests visited the beach.

Yorktown and the surrounding area, although known for its Revolutionary War legacy, has a rich history across many different time periods. Next time you visit Yorktown Beach or pass the Naval Mine Depot (now the Naval Weapons Station), think of the men who served in World War II and the community that established a “home away from home” for a town that slowly disappeared. Also remember that even in the middle of a global war or political unrest, there is a need for joy, entertainment, and recreation.