Buffalo soldiers and Troopers come to Ashland

Oct. 9—ASHLAND — Buffalo Soldiers and Troopers from seven states visited the Tri-State's only Black history museum on Saturday.

About 45 members on motorcycles and in cars were escorted by Ashland police to the C. B. Nuckolls Community Center & Black History Museum to tour the space and observe historical information on The Buffalo Soldiers.

Tammy Brown, President of the Charleston, West Virginia, chapter of The National Association of Buffalo Soldiers and Trooper Motorcycle Club, said Saturday marked the 10th anniversary for her chapter. Brown has been a member in the chapter since its formation in 2013.

"A Buffalo Soldier to me is a family," Brown said. "We get out there, we serve the community and we take care of families in need. We reach out to everyone, we don't discriminate, we give to everyone. It's a wonderful organization."

Brown was the lead organizer in bringing multiple chapters for the museum visit.

"When I first came in here I was amazed. The history, I had no idea, I think it's wonderful," she said. "We are very honored that Mr. (Darrell) Smith let us come up here and view the beautiful museum and I want to thank Ashland for welcoming us. We truly appreciate this and we will be back."

Buffalo Soldiers from Charleston; Columbus; Chicago; Gary, Indiana; Charlottesville, Virginia as well as Maryland and New Jersey visited the museum.

Mark Preston was among the dozens of Buffalo Soldiers.

"It's historical. There's a lot of information. Some things I didn't know that I'm learning about while I'm here. It's just a privilege to be here," he said.

Preston spoke about what the club does. "It's a feeling of fulfillment, responsibility and enjoyment. We do a lot of cooking for the homeless and community service — we don't just ride motorcycles, we give back to the community."

Kenneth "Dream Maker" Thomas, a retired Chicago police officer and founder of the Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club in 1993, said it is one of the biggest clubs in the world.

"Many people do not know that we are the largest African American club in the world. We are in 44 states with 113 chapters. We have been doing this over 30 years — that is an accomplishment," he said.

"One of the things that has given us the ability to last so long is our structure, our love for one another. We ride, we educate and we give back. We are proud African Americans," he said. "We are Buffalo Soldiers, Buffalo Troopers and we are going to keep this thing rolling."

"A lot of African Americans fought in every war that has been waged here in the United States and a lot of African Americans fought and died for this country and were not recognized," Thomas said.

Darrell Smith, founder of C. B. Nuckolls Community Center & Black History Museum, said he was not familiar with the branch in Charleston until they reached out to him.

"To see this group of people band together in a club is wonderful, I am kind of speechless. I've heard of the Black bikers, I had no idea of their existence in Charleston," he said.

"Ashland has always been a peaceful place, people are good here, but in the '80s or '90s you would never see Black bikers riding through Ashland," he said. "This is how much Ashland has grown and become so diverse — a Black history museum in Ashland, I would have never thought that, but I was determined in helping."

He said he started a Facebook page in 2022, 'Ashland Kentucky Black History,' which then snowballed into becoming the first Black history museum in the Tri-State.

"I'm trying to save Black history," he said. "When I started the page, they started adding pictures and emailing me."

Since then Smith has worked on finding prominent Black figures that have been forgotten about in Ashland and in the U.S.

Smith said every piece of information arranged in the museum has been written and typed by him. "For someone that's dyslexic, it's a very difficult thing and I am proud of myself for that."

Mayor Matt Perkins spoke to the crowd inside the museum about the hard work contributed by the founders of the museum.

"Mrs. Bernice Henry truly is a pillar in our community. She is the first woman of color elected to our city commission. That also is a part of our history that we are proud of," Perkins said.

"You all being here means a lot to me. To have people in our community know that we have a museum like this — it's very special," he said. "We are proud as a city to have this and host you all here."

Henry, one of the museum founders, told the crowd some background on the Black history museum.

"I said a prayer before I went to sleep to make sure that God covered you as you travel down the highway and he brought you here and I wanted to see you come up that street because that's very historic."

"C.B Nuckolls was a principal of the only Black school in this area of which I had the honor of going there for nine years," she said. "We are so pleased and I am honored with the achievements. This is the dream of my great nephew (Darrell Smith). It was a gift that God gave to him.

Annie "First Lady" Thomas, from Chicago, said, "We came here to support our West Virginia chapter, it means a lot to honor the 9th and 10th cavalry of the Buffalo Soldiers."

"It wasn't taught in school and how they fought in the military. It's good to speak about it and have things like this to learn," she said. "Our kids need to know, even though now they are trying to take a lot of stuff out of school books."

The Charleston Chapter presented a check to the museum.

"From the Charleston Buffalo soldiers, we would like to present this check to C.B Nuckolls in the amount of $250, and we are very grateful for you allowing us to come to the museum," Brown said.

(606) 326-2657 — ajohnson@dailyindependent.com