{{Short description|United States Navy officer (1900–1961)}} {{For|the American football player also named Thomas Darden|Thom Darden}} {{Infobox officeholder |honorific_prefix = |name = Thomas Francis Darden Jr. |honorific_suffix = |image = Thomas Darden.jpg |alt = Black-and-white photo of a man in naval uniform from the shoulders up. He wears a terse expression and a United States Navy officers hat. |caption = |office = [[Governor of American Samoa]] |term_start = July 7, 1949 |term_end = February 23, 1951 |lieutenant = |predecessor = [[Vernon Huber]] |successor = [[Phelps Phelps]] |birth_date = September 8, 1900 |birth_place = [[Brooklyn, New York]], US |death_date = {{Death date and age|1961|6|17|1900|9|8}} |death_place = |resting_place = [[Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery]] |party = |spouse = |alma_mater = |occupation = Naval officer |signature = |signature_alt = <!--Military service--> |nickname = |allegiance = United States |branch = [[United States Navy]] |service_years = |rank = [[Captain (United States)#U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Public Health Service, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|Captain]] |unit = |commands = [[USS Benham (DD-397)|USS ''Benham'' (DD-397)]]; [[USS Denver (CL-58)|USS ''Denver'' (CL-58)]]; Special Programs Unit |battles = [[Battle of Empress Augusta Bay]],<br>[[Battle of Surigao Strait]],<br> [[Philippines campaign (1944-45)|Liberation of the Philippines]] |awards = }}
'''Thomas Francis Darden Jr.''' (September 8, 1900 – June 17, 1961) was a [[U.S. Navy]] officer who achieved the rank of [[Captain (United States)|captain]],<ref>{{cite web|last=Sorensen|first=Stan|title=The Samoan Historical Calendar, 1606-2007|url=http://americansamoa.gov/history/samhist_forweb.pdf|publisher=[[Government of American Samoa]]|accessdate=1 July 2010|author2=Joseph Theroux |page=146}}</ref><ref name=grave>{{cite web|title=DARDEN, THOMAS FRANCIS JR |url=http://gravelocator.cem.va.gov/j2ee/servlet/NGL_v1|publisher=[[United States Department of Veterans Affairs]]|accessdate=2 July 2010|year=2010}}</ref> the commander of a Navy [[light cruiser]] during [[World War II]], and was the [[governor of American Samoa]] from July 7, 1949 through February 23, 1951. Darden also served on the staffs of two U.S. Navy admirals during the [[War in the Pacific]]: rear admirals [[Henry Hughes Hough]] and [[Thomas L. Sprague]].
Darden served on and commanded warships, and then in the 1940s was appointed head of the "Special Programs Unit". This unit trained [[African Americans]] for accelerated promotion in the Navy; Darden himself advocated for [[racial integration]] in the Navy.
Darden also served as the last military governor of [[American Samoa]], and since February 1951, his successors have all been civilians.
==Life== Darden was born on September 8, 1900, in [[Brooklyn, New York]].<ref name=profile/> He died on June 17, 1961.<ref name=profile/> He is buried at the [[Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery]] in [[San Diego]], California.<ref name=grave/>
==Naval career== [[File:Base Force staff.jpg|thumb|200px|Darden on the staff of Hough; he is in the back.|left]] While he was a [[lieutenant#Naval rank|lieutenant]], Darden served as the [[aide-de-camp]] and the flag secretary for Rear Admiral [[Henry Hughes Hough]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Rear Admiral Isaac C. Kidd, USN, (1884-1941)|url=http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/pers-us/uspers-k/ic-kidd.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010115091300/http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/pers-us/uspers-k/ic-kidd.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 15, 2001|work=[[Naval History & Heritage Command]]|publisher=[[United States Navy]]|accessdate=24 May 2010|date=17 October 2000}}</ref> For a period of time following World War II, Darden served as an assistant to [[Chief of Naval Personnel]] Rear Admiral [[Thomas L. Sprague]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Armed Forces Map Draft Procedures|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=26 June 1948|location=[[New York City]]}}</ref>
Darden took command of the [[destroyer]] [[USS Benham (DD-397)|USS ''Benham'' (DD-397)]]on February 2, 1939.<ref>{{cite web|last=Francis|first=Timothy|title=Benham|url=http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/b5/benham-ii.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060905150305/http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/b5/benham-ii.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 5, 2006|work=Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships|publisher=[[United States Navy]]|accessdate=24 May 2010|date=8 February 2006}}</ref> Then, during the War in the Pacific,
Darden commanded the [[light cruiser]] [[USS Denver (CL-58)|USS ''Denver'' (CL-58)]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Morison|first=Samuel Eliot|title=History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Vol. 13: The Liberation of the Philippines--Luzon, Mindanao, the Visayas, 1944-1945|year=2002|publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]]|isbn=0-252-07064-X|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nICvzYNBKiUC&q=Darden&pg=RA1-PA246|authorlink=Samuel Eliot Morison|accessdate=24 May 2010|location=[[Urbana, Illinois]]|page=246}}</ref>
In the latter 1940s, Darden headed the "Special Programs Unit", a naval unit intended to address the continuing role of [[Military history of African Americans|African Americans in the U.S. Navy]]. Darden advocated integrating Black personnel into the U.S. Navy.<ref>{{cite book|last=Purdon|first=Eric|title=Black Company: The Story of Subchaser 1264|year=2000|publisher=[[Naval Institute Press]]|isbn=1-55750-658-2|pages=22–23|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DQ4aVo_GKKAC&q=%22Thomas+f+Darden%22&pg=PA22|accessdate=24 May 2010|location=[[Annapolis, Maryland]]}}</ref> He and fellow naval officers in the program developed a course to prepare African American [[enlisted men]] for promotion to the rank of [[Chief Petty Officer]]. Many graduates of this program were given priority promotion, even when specific openings did not exist for them.<ref>{{cite book|last=Marolda|first=Edward|title=The U.S. Navy in the Korean War|year=2007|publisher=[[Naval Institute Press]]|isbn=978-1-59114-487-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nwvuszOAeLwC&q=%22Thomas+f+Darden%22&pg=PA258|accessdate=24 May 2010|location=[[Annapolis, Maryland]]|page=258}}</ref>
==Governorship== Darden was the last military governor of [[American Samoa]].<ref name=profile>{{cite web|title=Captain Thomas Francis Darden, Jr.|url=http://americansamoa.gov/governors/captain-thomas-francis-darden-jr|work=Governors|publisher=[[Government of American Samoa]]|accessdate=23 May 2010|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527143155/http://americansamoa.gov/governors/captain-thomas-francis-darden-jr|archivedate=27 May 2010|url-status=dead|year=2010}}</ref> Darden took office on July 7, 1949, succeeding Captain [[Vernon Huber]],<ref name=profile/> and he left the office on February 23, 1951,<ref name=profile/> to be succeeded by civilian governors from then on. Darden's primary assignment as the last U.S. Navy Governor was to ensure a smooth and orderly transition from U.S. Navy to [[United States Department of the Interior|Interior]] administration. Despite President Truman's 1948 order for the transition, there was still significant opposition due to political and economic concerns, including fears of losing land and the matai system. On March 1, 1951, Governor Darden and his wife departed the territory aboard the ''SS Sonoma''.<ref>Sunia, Fofō Iosefa Fiti (2001). ''Puputoa: Host of Heroes - A record of the history makers in the First Century of American Samoa, 1900-2000''. Suva, Fiji: Oceania Printers. Page 22. ISBN 9829036022.</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Governors of American Samoa}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Darden, Thomas Francis}} [[Category:1900 births]] [[Category:1961 deaths]] [[Category:Governors of American Samoa]] [[Category:United States Navy captains]] [[Category:Military personnel from Brooklyn]] [[Category:United States Navy personnel of World War II]] [[Category:Burials at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery]]