Ruth Bailey Earl and Cathay Williams at the African American Military History Museum in Hattiesburg, MS

Black History Matters

Originally published on Medium at https://medium.com/@librariesval/ruth-bailey-earl-and-cathay-williams-at-the-african-american-military-history-museum-in-hattiesburg-ffa36378e1d9 on May 22, 2016. 

I first became aware of the African American Military History Museum in Hattiesburg, Mississippi just today, in randomly turning my television to American History TV, the weekend-only programming of the cable channel, C-SPAN3. This video of a brief tour of the museum and its exhibits was informative and fascinating. The museum highlights more than 150 years of African American military history.

March 28, 2016

African American Military History Museum

Latoya Norman gave a tour of the African American Military History Museum and highlighted some of the contributions made by African Americans throughout the nation’s history. African Americans have participated in every American military conflict dating back to the Revolutionary War.

I enjoyed finding out about Ruth Bailey Earl and her powerful (and literal!) stance on being an African American woman serving in the armed forces during World War II.

Latoya Norman’s description of the Ruth Bailey Earl Exhibit from the American History TV video.
Ruth Bailey Earl Statue at the African American Military History Museum in Hattiesburg, Mississippi

And I was very surprised to hear about Cathay Williams and her impersonating a man to serve in the U.S. Army — in which she became the first woman to ever do so — and becoming a Buffalo Soldier. I don’t think her story made it into that Bob Marley song…

Latoya Norman’s description of of the Buffalo Soldier Exhibit from the American History TV video.
Cathay Williams Figure at the African American Military History Museum in Hattiesburg, Mississippi

I was able to find more information about Cathay Williams online…

There are not similar resources, unfortunately, on Ruth Bailey Earl–although there is this photo, on which the statue was based. For more information on her, you must contact the museum directly.

Feel free to follow the Twitter account of the African American Military History Museum in Hattiesburg, MS at @HburgAAMHM.

You can also like the African American Military History Museum’s Facebook Page.

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