Post by NAR on Jun 12, 2004 15:59:52 GMT -5
FEW AMERICANS TODAY, BLACK OR WHITE, KNOW ABOUT THE incredible life of Cathy Williams. From her beginnings as a slave in Independence, Missouri, to her enlistment with Company A, 38th U.S. Infantry, in November 1866, the story of this remarkable woman deserves to finally be told. By disguising herself as a man and assuming the name William Cathay, Williams became a "Buffalo Soldier," serving in one of the six black units formed following the Civil War: the first and only African American woman to accomplish this feat.
Duty as a Buffalo Soldier under the name of Pvt. William Cathay led Cathy Williams on a personal odyssey of adventure from her home state of Missouri to the Mexican border. Wearing a blue uniform and serving beside her male comrades, Cathy Williams experienced hard duty during a winter campaign against the Apaches of southwest New Mexico.
By accepting this host of challenges, Cathy Williams went where no other African American woman--or any woman, for that matter-had previously gone. During nearly two years of service, she successfully challenged and eventually overcame a host of demeaning stereotypes about both her race and gender. All the while, she maintained her dignity, pride, and self-respect in a world that sought to deprive her of these virtues simply because she was a black woman. Continuing a tradition of personal independence and self-sufficiency established at an early age, Cathy Williams continued to nigh to fulfill her own dream of creating a life for herself on the Western frontier after her military service.
Cathy Williams's odyssey offers an inspiring example of a courageous woman who made her hopes and dreams come true in the West by her own initiative and desire to succeed. In fact, both Cathy's struggle and longing for equality were greater for her than for most white Americans because of her race, gender, and tragic past rooted in slavery.
The story of Cathy Williams also serves as an inspirational example to other women, both black and white. Quite unknowingly and unintentionally, Pvt. William Cathay charted a new course by leading the way for today's important role of women in all branches of the American military. This resourceful former slave can be viewed as a pioneer for the thousands of American women serving in today's United States' armed forces.
Cathy Williams's story makes a meaningful contribution to the annals of Women's, American, African American, Military, and Western history. But her remarkable life is especially valuable as an inspiring example for all Americans-black and white, man or woman-emphasizing the importance of the power of the will to survive against the odds, and as an enduring testament to the strength and resiliency of the human spirit.