Visit the Ripley First Presbyterian Church, 114 Mulberry Street, on Sunday, Nov.12 at 2 p.m. for a special Kentucky Humanities Chautauqua featuring Colonel Charles Young: Bridge Builder, portrayed by Michael Jones.
Guests visited the Ripley First Presbyterian Church, 114 Mulberry Street, on Sunday, Nov.12 at 2 p.m. for a special Kentucky Humanities Chautauqua featuring Colonel Charles Young: Bridge Builder, portrayed by Michael Jones. This was a free program, and everyone was welcome to attend. This program was funded in part by Kentucky Humanities and the National Endowment for Humanities.
Charles Young was the third African American to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point. He was born near Mays Lick, Kentucky, in Mason County on March 12, 1864, a year before the end of the Civil War. His father, Gabriel Young, ran away from enslavement and joined the Union Army during the war. Gabriel and his wife, Arminta, moved to Ripley, Ohio, to raise their son after the war ended.
Charles excelled academically, graduating with honors from Ripley High School in 1881 and accepted a teaching position in Ripley’s African American school thereafter. Encouraged by his father and his mentor J. T. Whitman, superintendent of the school, and John P. Parker, entrepreneur and former Underground Railroad conductor, Charles sought an appointment to West Point in 1884.
Young had a distinguished career of more than 30 years in the United States Army, rising from lieutenant to colonel, all while battling racism in a nearly all-white officer corps. Young’s success in an army that was not quite ready to embrace him required steadfast devotion and perseverance. He was at the height of his career when America entered World War I.
Young accomplished much during his military service, including being the first African American superintendent of a national park, the first African American military attaché, and the highest-ranking African American Regular Army officer at the time of his death.
Jones holds a B.A. from Morehouse College and an M.A. from the University of California, Riverside. He spent several years working as a museum curator for the Kentucky Historical Society and currently works for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet as a Historic Preservation Program Administrator.
This program was part of the Appalachian Freedom Heritage Tourism Initiative.
The Appalachian Freedom Heritage Tourism Initiative is funded by a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission and is being led by Lawrence County Economic Development Corporation with the local partner being Brown County Ohio Tourism, Inc.
