Description: Charles Young created this portfolio while a cadet at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Young was an army officer, expert mapmaker, and musician. A selection of pages from the portfolio provided here includes pencil drawings, drawing exercises, cartography exercises, and a map of West Point. The portfolio measures approximately 19.75" by 24.25" (50.17 by 61.60 cm). Young (1864-1922), a Kentucky native raised in Ohio, graduated from Ripley Colored High School in 1880. He won appointment to West Point in 1884 and in 1889 became the third African American graduate from the school. Young taught military science at Wilberforce University and later served in the Spanish American War as the major in command of the 9th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (O.V.I.). He had an exceptional military career, highlighted by his appointments to serve as military attache to Haiti and Liberia. He commanded troops in the "Punitive Expedition" in Mexico, and during the "Filipino Insurrection." He was also superintendent of Sequoia and General Grant national parks. At the outset of World War I, Young was the highest-ranking African American in the army. Rather than promote him, and place him in a position of authority over white soldiers, the army involuntarily retired Young from active duty, ostensibly because of ill health. To prove his fitness for duty, he rode horseback from his home in Wilberforce, Ohio, to Washington, D.C. The army, nevertheless, did not promote him to colonel until after he retired from service. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om1799_1765273_001
Subjects: African American Ohioans; Arts and Entertainment; Military Ohio; United States Military Academy; Portfolios
Places: West Point (New York)