The term “Buffalo Soldiers” refers to African American soldiers who served in the peacetime army between 1866 to 1898 and as such, a majority of publications and popular culture focuses on this timeframe. While this period is critical to understanding the history of these soldiers, many historians may not spend as much time researching the final decades of the regiment’s service as segregated units. Join Cale Carter, Director of Exhibitions at the Center for African American Military History dba Buffalo Soldiers National Museum, to learn more about this unsung period of Buffalo Soldier history and how it connects to subjects outside of military history.
Born in Columbia, South Carolina, Cale Carter has always had a passion for history from an early age. This passion brought him to the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum to serve as a volunteer docent in 2008. After graduating from Dekaney High School in 2012, he attended Lone Star College North Harris before transferring to Huston-Tillotson University where he majored in History and minored in Political Science. While at Huston-Tillotson, Cale was a fellow in the Mellon-Mays Undergraduate Fellowship and conducted research in the French Military Archives on an Afro-French aviator who served in the French Air Force during World War II.
In addition to being a Mellon Foundation fellow, Cale was also a fellow at the Institute for the Recruitment of Teachers. When not in class, Cale was an interpretive assistant with the Texas State Parks and Wildlife Buffalo Soldiers Heritage and Outreach program where he worked as a living historian portraying the 25th Infantry Regiment on the western frontier as well as World War II. After graduating Summa Cum Laude with a BA in History, He returned to his home state where he worked with ColumbiaSC63, a civil rights history organization, and the South Carolina Military Museum as a Curator of Exhibitions. Currently, he is the Director of Exhibitions for the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum.
