July 06, 2017
AP Wire Service
Officials in Vermont have added a new historic marker that commemorates an African-American regiment of the U.S. Army with ties to the state.
The Burlington Free Press reports (http://bfpne.ws/2tCia1m ) the marker honoring the U.S. Army 10th Cavalry Buffalo Soldiers was dedicated Sunday outside the Elly-Long Music Center in Colchester. The sign joins several sites that compose the Vermont African American Heritage Trail.
President Abraham Lincoln commissioned the Buffalo Soldiers in the 1860s.
Colchester’s Fort Ethan Allen was home to the 10th Cavalry in the early 1900s. St. Michael’s College history professor Doug Slaybaugh says the group had better conditions than other Buffalo Soldiers who were often neglected.
Executive director of the Vermont Partnership for Fairness and Diversity Curtiss Reed says the trail encourages tourism for people of color.