by CAROLYN L. MAZLOOMI
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Why this exhibit at this time? 0n January 8, 2018, President Donald Trump signed into law The 400 Years of African-American History Commission Act, appointing a commission to arrange celebration of the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first Africans in the English colonies. This year-long celebration recognizes and highlights the resilience and cultural contributions of Africans and African Americans over 400 years to America. 2019 serves as a year to acknowledge the painful impact that slavery and laws that enforced racial discrimination had on the United States and its African American citizens. This year America will celebrate the contributions of African Americans. The history of African Americans is filled with tragedies that have shaped the black experience in America; however African Americans have contributed to the social, cultural economic, academic, and moral well-being of this nation. Colonel Charles Young is a little known unsung hero, who offers up courage and perseverance during an extremely difficult time in our nation’s history for its African American citizens. The life of Col. Charles Young most certainly highlights the resilience and contributions of African Americans in a significant way.
The exhibited narrative quilts provide a visual diary of Col. Charles Young’s life. Young’s life is filled with extraordinary accomplishments. He graduated at sixteen at the top of his high school class; could speak several languages, including Spanish, Greek, Spanish, German and Latin; he taught high school and college; he was the third African American to graduate from West Point; received the NAACP Sprigarn Medal for his service as an attaché in Liberia; There he helped Liberia to build the country’s infrastructure; the first African American U. S. Park Service Superintendent of Sequoia and Grant National Parks; leader of the Buffalo Soldier Regiment; he led his squadron and defeated Pancho Villa’s forces in Mexico without losing a single soldier; became the second honorary member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity; and was a talented musician and composer.
In 1903, Captain Charles Young became the first African American to appointed to serve as superintendent of a national park. Col. Young lead five-hundred men from the Buffalo Soldier Regiment to drive timber wolves and poachers from Sequoia and Yosemite National Parks. Under Young’s commend, the soldiers enforced the law, protected the tourists, cut new trails, and protected natural resources. Young’s incredible contributions to American history and the U. S. National Park Service prompted President Obama to choose his home in historic Wilberforce, Ohio, as the site of the National Buffalo Soldier Monument. The monument was once the private home of Col. Young and his family.
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Why use quilts to tell Col. Young’s story? Quilting is one of America’s most powerful art forms because of its widespread appeal and association with comfort, warmth, and healing. Quilts and quilt making are important to America and Black culture in particular, because the art form was historically one of the few mediums accessible to marginalized groups to tell their own story, to provide warmth for their families, and to empower them with a voice through cloth. Choosing quilts as the visual medium for this exhibit accentuates the intersections of African American contributions to American cultural production while at once informing others about the art form and its role in African American history. Story quilts, are great vehicles to tell the African American story because they link us to ancestral traditions and help us to appreciate the value of various forms of oral history.
For the African American viewer, the Yours for Race and Country is a validating expression of cultural genius. For viewers external to the culture, it is an awakening to the unknown and uncelebrated contributions of an extraordinary man, Col. Charles Young. Women of Color Quilters Network and Friends are proud to provide an unprecedented visual learning experience, by intersecting art with African American history and underscoring their importance to our common and shared American reality. It is this often unknown and underappreciated shared reality that must be voiced if we are ever to truly value the unique contributions diverse groups make to the fabric of our nation. We empower the memory and accomplishments of Col. Charles Young with voice through cloth as we continue to tell the story of African Americans.
This exhibition is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Additional support provided by Sara and Michelle Vance Waddell Fund.

Colonel Charles Young Taking Off the at Mask at Wilberforce
2018. 37 x 39 inches. Cotton fabric, polyester batting and thread; machine appliqué, photo-transfer on fabric, machine quilted.

Behind Every Great Man: Portrait Quilt of Ada Mills Young
2018. 40 x 40 inches. Cotton fabrics, silk dupioni, cotton batt. Machine pieces, appliquéd and quilted.

From the Slave House to the Farm House
2018. 34 x 50 inches. Antique cotton fabric, cotton batt, hand painting on canvas, appliqué, pieced, and machine quilted.

Altar in Red, White, Blue and Black
2018. 37.5 x 35.5 inches. African textiles, Filipino Barong scraps, imported and domestic cottons, silk, military adornments, vintage buttons, cowrie shells and beads; Pieced and hand-quilted.

The Game Changer
2018. 32 x 36.5 inches. Cotton fabric, cotton batting; printed, machine quilted, machine appliqué.

His Mother’s Love
2018. 36 x 39 inches Ice dyed fabric, bleached demen, reclaim vintage fabrics, appliqué, poly/ cotton batting, machine quilted.

In Gratitude
2018. 49 x 38 inches. Hand dyed cotton pieced, cotton batt, photo-transfer machine quilted.

Triumph of Tragedy: The International Service & Sacrifice of Colonel Charles Young
2018. 35 x 46 inches. Commercial cotton fabric, cotton batt, machine appliquéd and quilted

We Stand on the Shoulders of our Ancestors
2018. 79 x 51 inches. Cotton fabric and batting, buttons, beads, embroidered patch, printing on fabric, photo-transfer on fabric; machine appliqued and machine quilted by Judy Wolff.


A Man of Valor
2018. 34.5 x 27.5 inches. Cotton fabric, cotton batting; photo-transfer on fabric, decorative trim, machine appliqué and quilted.

Gabriel Young: Runaway Slave to Union Soldier
2018. 28.5 x 18.5 inches. Cotton fabric, cotton batting; pieced, appliqué, photo-transfer on fabric, machine quilted.

Ripley: Three Lives Entwined (John P. Parker, Gabriel Young, Charles Young)
2018. 38 X 37.5 inches. Commercial cotton fabric, cotton batt, hand

Welcome Home Colonel Charles Young
2018. 36 x 40 inches. Cotton fabric, cotton batting, decorative trim. Photo transfer on cotton fabric, machine pieced and machine quilted.

Colonel Charles Young in Haiti
2018. 40 x 40 inches. Cotton fabric, hand painted, hand drawn; machine quilted.

Up From Slavery
2018. 40 x 27 inches. Hand dyed cotton fabric, commercial cotton fabric, cotton batt, machine appliqué and quilted.

To Whom Much Is Given
2017. 30 x 30 inches. Cut work decorative lace tablecloth, leather strips, red crochet roses, yard with thread couching, mesh, knit decorative cooling cloth, crushed velvet, ink, glass beads, ribbed bunting.

After Chores, I Read to Poppa
2018. 40 x 40 inches. Artist’s hand dyed fabric, cotton batt; machine drawing, photo and text printed on fabric, machine quilting.

Last Call
2018. 38.5 x 38.5 inches. Commercial cotton fabrics, cotton batt; hand pieced, appliquéd, hand painted, hand drawn, machine quilted.

Col. Charles Young: The Moral Compass: Military Attaché, Cartographer, and Road Builder
2018. 40 x 40 inches. Nylon fiber; appliqué, machine quilted.

A Giant Among the Trees: Sequoia Celebration
2018. 20.5 x 40.5 inches. Cotton fabric, cotton batting; machine piecing, photo-transfer on fabric, machine quilting.

Life in the Bay Area
2018. 34.5 x 38.5 inches. Commercial cotton fabric, silk organza, beads, embellished, lace, cotton batt; raw edge machine appliqué, hand stitched, machine quilted

In Service
2018. 39 x 31.5 inches. Cotton fabric, cotton batt, machine appliquéd and quilted.

Captain Charles Young, Superintendent of Sequoia National Park
2018. 40 x 40 inches. Cotton fabric, cotton batt, braided trim, hand painted, machine embroidery, machine appliqué, machine quilted.

Charles Young’s Death
2018. 40 x 40 inches. Cotton fabric, cotton batt, machine appliqué, machine pieced.

Coming Home, Colonel Charles Young
2018. 40 x 40 inches. Cotton fabric and batt, organza. Machine pieced and quilted.

Major Young
2018. 40 x 40 inches. Cotton fabric and batt, machine appliqué and quilted.

Honoring Col Charles Young, Perseverance for, Self, Race and Nation
2018. 32 x 37 inches. Cottons, tulle, hand painted fabrics, beads, brass bells, buttons Machine pieced, hand quilted and embellished.

Giant Among the Sequoias
2018. 40 x 40 inches. Recycled cotton batik fabric scraps, batik cotton fabric, recycled cotton and polyester batting, ink; machine pieced, machine quilted.

Spanish-American War
2018. 40 x 40 inches. Cotton, rayon, polyester, denim, men suiting, satin, felt and fiberglass window screen plus brass buttons as embellishment, machine pieced and quilted.

Colonel Charles Young Homecoming Quilt
2018. 40 x 40 inches. Cotton, lame netting, synthetic fibers; appliqué, hand drawing, acrylic painting on canvas., machine quilted.