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(EoUrnfl Oil) arbh ill. f omuj1865 1922v (By LeAnder Raymond Hill)The career of Charles Young, the soldier, statesman and musician, is of perennial interest to the world because it represents a high personal achievement accomplished under severe difficulties.Bom in obscurity, like Lincoln, he faced the American color prejudice, lion-like, and rose high in the ranks of fame and usefulness.Colonel Young served his country in Haiti, Africa, Mexico and thePhilippines. He served four years as military attache to Haiti. During this time he made an accurate map of the country. It is said that the American Marines would not have been able to find their way into Haiti so easily had not Captain Young done his work so well. He also found time to write the drama, “Toussaint L’Ouverture.”The last time the writer saw Colonel Young was in December, 1919, in Boston, Mass., just prior to his departure for Liberia. I shall never forget the stem expression and the sparkling eyes of this noble character. The inspirational power and personal magnetism of Colonel Young were the secrets of his success. I recall the inspirational effect of his voice when he addressed the Grand Chapter of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity (of which he was a member) in Tremont Temple. The Colonel made a strong plea for justice. He said that he wanted for us all what other Americans enjoy and pleaded for an awakening spirit of united action to get what was justly ours. He continued: “Bolshevism, anarchism and all other ‘isms’ should be avoided. They breed violence. Whatever changes occur in our social,political and economic laws will not be wrought by bloodshed,” he declared. Never in my life have I heard a more earnest plea for united action.As long as we can produce men and women of his strength and worth we need not be afraid of the future or what it will bring. His picture ought to be in the home of every member of the race. Teach your boys and girls his story; make them know him and his record. Like Lincoln, he had what all men, black and white, respect—moral and physical courage and the ability to meet hard tasks and disagreeable situations unflinchingly without losing his head or his confidence in himself. When a man loses hope in the future and confidence in himself the game of a useful life is up.Colonel Young was especially interested in the men of his race, and I can truly say that he has left a lasting and uplifting imprint in the minds of every man who knew him. He was a musician of no mean ability. I recall, vividly, that evening in Boston when this soldier, statesman and traveler sat at the piano and mastered some of the most difficult compositions of the world’s greatest artists.Colonel Young was intensely interested in the development of Liberia. It was his intention while military attache to Liberia to write a history of the country. He was stricken while on an investigation tour of the interior.In the passing of Colonel Young the government has lost a good citizen, and the race a friend, and the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity a big brother. So in our memorial services of March 12, with our faces turned to the East, while the bugle sounds the “taps,” let us build a monument to the memory of Charles Young and his achievements in the minds of the coming generations.
Newspaper Details
The Northwestern Bulletin Appeal
Saint Paul, Minnesota, US
Sat, Mar 08, 1924
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Quinest B.
USA 24 Oct 2021
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