In 1866, the U.S. Congress established six African American infantry and cavalry regiments at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. In the 150 years since that time, African Americans have actively participated in our nation’s defense, and this program recounts the history of America’s buffalo soldiers. These overlooked warriors helped shape the complex history of the American West, facing not only bullets and arrows, but racial discrimination. How did they come to be called buffalo soldiers? Who were these unknown or forgotten men?Among the little stories of black frontier troopers soldiers is their relationship to a young, upcoming Western artist named Fredric Remington. Their intertwined relationships will be the topic of a fast paced presentation by Dr. John Langellier at the July 26, 2017 meeting.
Biography ~ John Langellier
John Langellier received his PhD. from Kansas State University in Military History, and is the author of scores of articles and dozens of books, including Southern Arizona Military Outposts and his latest book, Fighting for Uncle Sam: Buffalo Soldiers in the Frontier Army, which combines a compelling narrative with over 150 images from a bygone era. Langellier began his 45 year career in public history at the Arizona Historical Society in the 1960s and among other assignments spent a dozen years with the Department of the Army, as well as later on with the Department of the Navy, the National Archives, the Autry Museum, and many other posting before retiring two years ago to pursue full time writing, lecturing and consulting. Likewise, he has served as a consultant to film and television such as “Geronimo: An American Legend,” “Posse,” and for the PBS production “For Love of Liberty,” hosted by Halle Barry. He has also co-produced two episodes of A&E’s Time Machine series, “The Buffalo Soldiers” and “The Buffalo Soldiers: The Legend Continues.” He is an honorary member of the 9th and 10th U.S. Horse Cavalry Association, and a Smithsonian Institution fellow. In 1992, he was named as the Montana Historical Society’s James Bradley Fellow to conduct research on African American soldiers in Big Sky Country and recently was selected as a 2017-18 resident fellow of the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming.
