Brian G. Shellum

“During a long and distinguished career, Charles Young succeeded in spite of the Jim Crow prejudices permeating the American military of his time. His is a remarkable and inspiring story, though often overlooked. In this well-researched book, Brian Shellum finally gives Young the historical attention he deserves.”
-Dayton Duncan, author of The National Parks: America’s Best Idea

“With quiet dignity and determination, Charles Young skillfully negotiated incredible obstacles to reach the rank of colonel. Brian G. Shellum has succeeded in capturing Young’s courage and the shameful milieu of America’s Jim Crow army.”
-Gregory J. W. Urwin, professor of history at Temple University and editor of Black Flag over Dixie: Racial Atrocities and Reprisals in the Civil War

“Extensively researched and clearly written, Black Officer in a Buffalo Soldier Regiment places Charles Young back where he belongs, among the important figures of African Americans during the Progressive Era. Shellum’s account should be read by anybody interested in understanding how a black Army officer could not only survive, but prosper in the Jim Crow–era military.”
-Mark Benbow, former resident historian of the Woodrow Wilson House

“Shellum has written a careful, concise, thoughtful, and easily read volume on the life story of Colonel Charles Young. . . . Using solid research and little-used documentary sources, Shellum brings into sharp focus a man and officer of whom too little is known, and not near enough is remembered. There is enough in Young’s life to fuel a dozen shows on the History Channel and be the subject of a decade of African American Heritage Months.”
-William W. Gwaltney, former president of the Association of African American Museums

“Brian Shellum traces the development, experiences, and extraordinary accomplishments of a pioneering black officer who broke through one racial barrier after another in the decades straddling the turn of the twentieth century. The author follows Charles Young on his far-flung adventures with the Buffalo Soldiers on the Great Plains and in Sequoia National Park, leading his troopers in combat in the Philippines and Mexico, and his service in Haiti and Liberia as the first African American military attaché. Shellum places in the context of his times a leader who came to epitomize African American manhood. In so doing the author reveals a true hero to his country and his race.”
-Floyd Thomas, curator at the National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center

"The recently published "Black Officer in a Buffalo Soldier Regiment," concludes Brian Shellum's two-volume biography of the African American military hero, Charles Young. These two volumes have been superbly researched and furnish a much-needed documentation of Young's historically important, little known and remarkable military career.
Young's early life through his graduation from West Point was covered in volume one, "Black Cadet in a White Bastion," published in 2006. Young was the third African American to graduate from the Academy.
Shellum's second volume covers, inter alia, Young's long distinguished military career from being appointed as a Black Officer in a Buffalo Soldier Regiment until his retirement as a Colonel after almost thirty years of continuous service. During that period he led troops in combat, was an early Superintendent of Sequoia National Park, directed the military cadet program at Willberforce University and served abroad as a military attaché. He, also, developed ties with African American leaders such as W.E.B. DuBois, Booker T. Washington and mentored Benjamin Davis Sr.who would later become the first African American General officer. In addition, in 1916, he received the second annual Spingarn Medal awarded by the NAACP. The only other American military officer to be awarded this medal was General Colin T. Powell in 1991.
I noted with interest that four of Young's cadets, when he was posted to Wilberforce University, were South African AME missionary students and that one of them later became a founding member of the ANC. In this I see an interesting parallel between the ANC's Nelson Mandela and Young. They both endured years of racial discrimination and humiliation but emerged without having been consumed by vengeful bitterness.
Since the publication of the second volume of the Young biography, I have asked a number of African American friends, colleagues and acquaintances what they thought of Charles Young. I was surprised to discover that almost none of them knew anything about Young. It is my hope that Brian Shellum's biography will, in time, come to be widely read in America and particularly by members of the African American community."
-James W. Rawlings: retired Chairman and CEO of Union Carbide Southern Africa, Inc. and United States Ambassador to Zimbabwe 1986-1989, Amazon Review

"I read Brian Shellum's second and final bio on Charles Young with keen interest. This well researched book about the significant military career of the third black graduate of West Point is impressive with its detail about both Young but also the racism that he fought and endured in order to serve his country with honor. I admire Young's perseverance in the face of such adversity and his ultimate success against the odds. And I applaud Shellum for taking the time to give this Black Officer his long overdue recognition. I hope this book as well as Shellum's Black Cadet in a White Bastion become required reading for all students at the Military Academy."
-W. C. Montgomery, Amazon Review

I had read Shellum's previous work on Charles Young "Black Cadet in a White Bastion: Charles Young at West Point" so I had a good background on the subject going in.
But there really is so little that is known about these types of historical figures in these modern days that it was truly eye opening to roll back the years and see how life -- not just in the US military -- but in all of the US was 100 years ago.
In so many ways, we've come so far. We've elected someone who Charles Young played a small part in clearing a path for a black man to rise up on. Yet -- just as Young faced discrimination and prejudice in his day -- we still have so far to go.
The book made me think about how things are today. The good and the bad. it makes me happy to see our progress. It makes me sad to see how little there really has been and how more there needs to be.
While quite detailed in its historical research, the author manages to tell a story of a man, time & place that should appeal to non-historians as well."
-K. Bonney, Amazon Review

"An excellent book, well written and informative. Brian Shellum tells the story of Charles Young, a true American hero and pioneer. The third African-American graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, Young blazed a trail for subsequent generations to follow. Sadly, his life and accomplishments have been overlooked and forgotten in recent times. This book goes far in correcting that injustice."
-Axel Krigsman, Amazon Review