At the time of his death in 1922, Colonel Charles Young was the highest ranking African American officer in the United States Army. In 1894, almost five years after graduating West Point, the then thirty-year-old 2nd Lt. Young was appointed professor of Military Science and Tactics at Wilberforce University. He organized the military science department, established the university’s marching band, and also taught French, chemistry, and geology. Young was promoted to 1st lieutenant in 1896. When he left Wilberforce in 1898, its cadet corps had 113 members, 14 of whom later joined his new command of the Ninth Ohio Battalion. He encouraged students to rise to the “Talented Tenth” of African American leaders, a term used by his colleague and friend W.E.B. Du Bois. Among his many accomplishments, Young was elected the second honorary member of Omega Psi Phi in 1912 and received the Spingarn Medal in 1916, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s highest honor.