Lieutenant Colonel Charles E. Young was the third African American to graduate West Point and the highest-ranking African American Regular Army officer of his era. Young served with the Ninth U.S. Cavalry and the Tenth U.S. Cavalry, African American troops known as Buffalo Soldiers. Learn more about the "Legend and Legacy" of the Buffalo Soldiers in the Museum's, Many Lenses series.

This circular solid gold Spingarn Medal from the Museum's Collection was awarded to Young in 1916 by the NAACP. The front of the medal has Lady Justice holding a sword at her right side and the scales of justice in her left hand with the words "FOR MERIT" engraved beside her. The back of the medal has the words: "SPINGARN MEDAL awarded to Major Charles Young, U.S.A/February 22, 1916/BY THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE".

In May 1917, a military board selected him for promotion to colonel and many expected him to command troops during World War I and eventually become a general. Instead, he was abruptly retired at the rank of lieutenant colonel for medical reasons in July 1917. In 1919, Young was reassigned as military attaché to Liberia.

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