African-American

The legendary Buffalo Soldiers, four army regiments of former slaves, were vital in taming the American frontier. The Tenth Cavalry of African American troopers rode across the Colorado plains to battle the Cheyennes and rescue wounded, starving soldiers at Beecher Island on the Arikaree River. Under the cover of darkness, the Ninth Cavalry aided besieged troops pinned down by Ute sharpshooters at Milk Creek. They drove off Cheyenne Dog Soldiers attacking a stagecoach of nervous travelers on the Smokey Hill Trail to Denver. And they braved howling blizzards and deep snowdrifts to protect lonely homesteads and wandering prospectors. Author Nancy K. Williams details the bravery and valor of these historic servicemen who served proudly defending America’s Wild West.

Despite African Americans' lack of political, social and economic equality in the United States, the students of Howard University answered the call to service in both world wars. Howard supported its men and women in the quest to serve their nation. The university started an army training program during the First World War, and Howard faculty, staff and students pushed the War Department to begin an officer training school for African Americans. The university organized a Reserve Officer Training program in the interwar years, the first at an HBCU. Many of the famed Tuskegee Airmen of World War II were trained first at Howard. Based on a collection of letters sent by Howard students and alumni to the university, historian and archivist Lopez D. Matthews illuminates their wartime experiences.