Library of Congress to visit four Kansas cities with history, resources on educational tour
The 9th Cavalry Regiment of 'Buffalo Soldiers' was among those founded after the Civil War. (Library of Congress)
TOPEKA — The world's largest library partnered with the Kansas State Department of Education to embark on a tour through four cities with demonstrations on local history and community events.
Educators from the Library of Congress are scheduled to visit public libraries and museums in Hutchinson and Scott City in February and Girard and Lawrence in April. In those cities, educators will host workshops for teachers and school librarians and free events open to the public. Those events will include sessions on genealogy, veterans' history, agricultural history, old newspaper records, transportation and creative works from the New Deal.
'The Library of Congress is truly a library for all,' said Carla Hayden, the librarian of Congress, in a Thursday news release. 'Holding more than 178 million items in its collections, the Library offers perhaps the most comprehensive collection of human knowledge ever assembled in one place.'
The library's goal is to show rural educators and community members the vast primary sources available in the library's free, digitized collections.
'This important learning initiative showcases the ways people can experience the depth and breadth of what the library collects, preserves and makes available, all from their own communities,' Hayden said.
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Buffalo Soldiers in Utah finally getting their due
'There's a mountain of history about these guys that had never been really tapped into, and we realized it was much broader than we thought — kind of like an iceberg.' That's Ian Wright talking. Ian's the manager of Utah Cultural Site Stewardship, a state program tasked with 'protecting and safeguarding Utah's archaeological and cultural heritage.' In simpler terms, they're in charge of preserving Utah's history. The office has been operational for a little over four years, during which time Ian and his second-in-command, Lexi Little, have discovered an interesting pattern that repeats itself: When they start researching one bit of history, they often discover another bit that's even more interesting. Such is the case with the Buffalo Soldiers — two U.S. Army all-African American regiments that were stationed in Utah between 1878 and 1901. Thanks to Utah Cultural Site Stewardship, these men who played an important role in Utah history are getting a chance to take a bow more than a century later. For our interview with Ian and Lexi, we're sitting in the Fort Douglas Military Museum on the University of Utah campus. Today, the museum's buildings house an impressive array of military artifacts and information dating from the current day all the way back to 1862, when Fort Douglas was first created as a federal military garrison. But back in the late 1800s, these were the barracks where the Buffalo Soldiers lived. The story of the Buffalo Soldiers — so nicknamed by Native Americans because their coarse hair reminded them of a buffalo's — is one of those cringe-worthy parts of American history, hearkening back to a time when even the Union triumph in the Civil War failed to put the brakes on racial bigotry. In 1866, a year after the end of the war, the federal government decreed that the U.S. Army would be segregated (and would remain so for nearly 100 years), designating that four regiments (out of 60) were to be composed of all-Black troops. Two of these regiments, the 9th Cavalry and the 24th Infantry, would be posted to Utah between 1878 and 1901, sent to keep the peace, guard the mail, protect the telegraph lines and keep the Native Americans in check. The 9th Cavalry helped establish Fort Duchesne in Uintah County, while the 24th Infantry was billeted, as mentioned above, in the barracks at Fort Douglas on the east side of Salt Lake City. The ironies and incongruities of this arrangement were not a few: Black troops, already marginalized, sent to help protect and live in peace in a place populated primarily by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — a people who A) had their own issues about being marginalized after being forced out of their homes in Illinois without much federal support and being invaded by the U.S. Army not long after they fled to Utah, and B) whose church restricted some of its membership rights from Black people. Not to mention the fact that Fort Douglas, home of the 24th, was named after Stephen A. Douglas, Abraham Lincoln's debate rival who had been a slave owner himself. But here's the part that brings a light to the eyes of Ian Wright and Lexi Little as they talk about the Buffalo Soldiers era in Utah history: The interaction seems to have worked out just fine. There were no race riots, no protests of any historical consequence. The role the Buffalo Soldiers played was, by all accounts, a positive one. The 9th Cavalry not only helped calm tensions with the Ute Tribe in northeastern Utah, but also (although this hasn't been entirely substantiated) helped guard the train depot in Price from a rumored heist by Butch Cassidy and the Robbers Roost gang. The 24th Infantry gained fame by answering the government's call to briefly leave Fort Douglas and fight in the Spanish-American War in Cuba in 1898 — charging up San Juan Hill with Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders. When the troops returned to Salt Lake City, they marched up Main Street in a parade in their honor. 'Not a lot of people know the Buffalo Soldiers were here,' says Ian, 'but they were everywhere. Every time we did research, they popped up.' Adds Lexi, 'It is a vital story that needs to be told.' The Utah Cultural Site Stewardship program has established a Heritage Trail that maps all the areas in Utah where the Buffalo Soldiers made their mark (it's 475 miles in length), and a website — — that details the history in great depth. There is also an audiobook available at narrated by former KSL Radio talk show host Doug Wright (Ian's dad). In short, if any of those Buffalo Soldiers were still around, they would no doubt be gobsmacked by all the attention. 'Our job is to safeguard all 13,000 years of Utah history,' says Ian. 'This was a gap, and we filled it.'
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An Army base will now honor a Buffalo Soldier
When the U.S. Army announced on June 10 that it was changing the names of seven bases back to their earlier designations, it skipped over one major milestone: Fort Lee in Virginia will now be the first base to be named after a Buffalo Soldier. The bases reverted back to their names, which had previously honored Confederate leaders, although with new, non-Confederate namesakes. In the case of Fort Lee, rather than Robert E. Lee, a Confederate general, it's now named for Pvt. Fitz Lee, a Buffalo Soldier. Fitz Lee fought in the Spanish-American War and earned the Medal of Honor for his actions at Tayabacoa, Cuba, when he helped rescue trapped soldiers. Although the biography released by the Army noted he was a Buffalo Soldier, the Army's announcement did not highlight that this is the first time a base is named for someone who was a part of the units — four regiments of Black soldiers formed after the Civil War, who served notably during the wars on the western frontier and in the Spanish-American War. Cale Carter, a historian and the director of exhibitions at the Buffalo Soldiers Museum in Houston, Texas, said that he was taken aback by the choice of the base's namesake, in part because Fitz Lee is not widely known, and his service happened in a part of the Buffalo Soldiers' history that isn't largely focused on. 'They went about with someone who had a Medal of Honor, but from a conflict you don't see much coverage of,' he said. Two years ago, the Army base that is once again known as Fort Lee was one of several U.S. military installations, buildings, and roads renamed in 2022 and 2023, following the recommendations of a special committee. The actions came from a wide push to remove names honoring members of the Confederacy, who violently opposed the Union. Many of the selected names instead honored notable soldiers and Army leaders, including Hal Moore and Medal of Honor recipient William Henry Johnson. Fort Lee was renamed to Fort Gregg-Adams, honoring both Lt. Gen. Arthur Gregg and Lt. Col. Charity Adams, Black service members who joined during a time when the Army was segregated. Gregg would eventually become the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics for the Army while Adams commanded the 6888th Central Postal Directory during World War II. At the time, it was the first Army base to be named for African Americans. The reversion to Fort Lee strips the names of Gregg and Adams, but it also creates another milestone. The Buffalo Soldiers, as they came to be known, were first formed in 1866 in the aftermath of the Civil War. They initially started with cavalry units — the 9th and 10th Cavalry — and soon infantry regiments followed, formalized as the 24th and 25th Infantry Regiments. They found themselves active on the American western frontier, working on infrastructure as the Army pushed west and fighting skirmishes and small battles against Native Americans who resisted the expansion. The exact origin of the nickname 'Buffalo Soldiers' isn't clear, but it is widely believed to come from their actions fighting on the plains. However, as the American reach in the Western Hemisphere expanded, the soldiers from the regiments soon found themselves taking part in actions in Cuba, the Philippines and Mexico. It was then that the soldiers found themselves up against formal military forces. In Cuba, they took part in the Battle of San Juan Hill. 'When you look at the Spanish-American War, you start seeing these regiments get exposed to the wider public and gain more recognition,' Carter said. 'They're proving their performance under fire.' The Buffalo Soldier regiments themselves did not go overseas to join the American forces fighting in World War I. However, several of the veterans from those wars were brought in as non-commissioned officers for the newly formed 92nd and 93rd Infantry divisions that did, Carter said. The 92nd Infantry Division, which fought in both World Wars, gained the nickname 'The Buffalos,' drawing on the legacy of the Buffalo Soldiers. The 25th Infantry Regiment would take part in the Pacific Theater of World War II, nearly 80 years after the initial Buffalo Soldier units were first raised. The term Buffalo Soldiers stuck around well into the 20th century. The last Buffalo Soldier, Robert Dixon, died in 2024 at the age of 103. Several monuments and markers at U.S. Army installations are named for the units. The once-again Fort Lee, located in Prince George County, Virginia, is a logistics hub for the U.S. Army. It's the home to the Army Combined Arms Support Command and several sustainment and transportation-related schools. There are limited details on Fitz Lee's early life, but according to the National Park Service, Fitz Lee was born in Dinwiddie County, Virginia in June 1866, one year after the end of the Civil War. He joined the Army's 10th Cavalry as the United States found itself at war with Spain in the Philippines and the Caribbean. Lee went to Cuba. In 1898, he was part of a group of 10th Cavalry soldiers selected for a mission to get behind Spanish lines to connect with and resupply Cuban rebels. That is how Lee and other soldiers found themselves on the USS Florida on June 30, 1898, landing in Tayabacoa, Cuba. They ran into a Spanish blockhouse and were forced to retreat, but several American and Cuban fighters were left wounded. Four attempts to get to the trapped soldiers failed, with each party from the Florida falling back in the face of Spanish fire. A fifth rescue party was formed, with four soldiers of the 10th Cavalry volunteering. Lee, Pvt. Dennis Bell, Sgt. William H. Thompkins and Cpl. George H. Wanton went ashore with 2nd Lt. George Ahern. They succeeded in surprising the enemy, rescuing the captives and escaping back to the ship. For their actions, the four enlisted soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor. They were the last Black soldiers to receive it outright for decades, rather than be awarded it years later via an ungraded award. Lee '[v]oluntarily went ashore in the face of the enemy and aided in the rescue of his wounded comrades; this after several previous attempts had been frustrated,' his Medal of Honor citation reads. The four enlisted soldiers each received the Medal of Honor for their actions in the following year. Lee, his health worsening after his time in Cuba, was at a hospital at Fort Bliss, Texas. He received a medical discharge from the Army on July 5. He moved to Leavenworth, Kansas, but his health continued to decline, with Lee eventually going blind. He died Sept. 14, 1899 and was buried at Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery. The exact illness isn't known, but it was at a time when more soldiers died from illness than combat, Carter noted. Alongside Fitz Lee, two other Black soldiers are now namesakes to the renamed bases. 1st Sgt. Robert A. Pinn and Pvt. Bruce Anderson, who provided part of the name for Fort A.P. Hill. Both fought in the Civil War and also earned the Medal of Honor for their actions fighting for the Union. Carter hopes that with the new designation, the Army base will have an education element that can teach current soldiers not just about Lee but also the Buffalo Soldiers and their legacy. Lee, despite his early death after the war, does have photographs, but many decorated Buffalo Soldiers, particularly from the frontier conflicts, have limited biographies and information, Carter said, leaving them not particularly well known. 'Hopefully this will drive more interest in [Lee],' he said. Sailors who can't deploy will be moved to empty jobs under Navy program Air Force relieves commander of pilot training squadron US military's highest ranking transgender officer says separation process is broken Army bringing in big tech executives as lieutenant colonels Trump reverts 7 Army bases to former names with new honorees, including Delta Force soldier
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This sacred place holds our national memory. Don't politicize it.
Amanda Vaill is the author of four biographies, including the forthcoming 'Pride and Pleasure: The Schuyler Sisters in an Age of Revolution.' In the summer of 1848, after Alexander Hamilton's 90-year-old widow, Eliza, had been campaigning for more than a decade to have the Library of Congress acquire her husband's papers, her goal seemed at last within reach. A 'bill for the relief of Elizabeth Hamilton,' under which Congress would buy his archive and she would have it transcribed and printed in book form for deposit in the Library, had been sent to the House of Representatives in May. Although the measure had not yet reached the floor, it was expected to at any moment.
