Illustrator and designer Arlen Schumer pays tribute to Black History Month with a great new portrait of Buffalo Soldier, Cathay Williams (1844-1893). Cathay, who posed as a man under the pseudonym “William Cathay”, was the first black woman to ever enlist in the U.S. Army, serving in the 38th U.S. Infantry Regiment. Buffalo Soldiers (original members of the U.S. Army’s 10th Cavalry Regiment), were first formed on September 21, 1866, at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The nickname was given to the black cavalry by Native American tribes fighting in the American-Indian Wars.
Cathay Williams died sometime in 1893, shortly after being denied her pension. Given that her grave marker is likely to have been made of wood and thus long-since deteriorated, her final resting place is to this day unknown. However, a few honors have been made to her in recent years, including a bronze bust and surrounding rose garden at the Richard Allen Cultural Center in Leavenworth, Kansas, and a monument bench on the Walk of Honor at the National Infantry Museum in Columbus, Georgia.
If you ask us, Arlen’s portrait is a wonderful and worthy addition to these tributes!
