Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Leave Your Legacy...Inform The World!

Hello!

Well, I am back from a holiday in England. It was a great 30 days spent mostly with my daughter and her family. I have written a travelogue; you can get a copy (about 10 pages with photos) by writing me at: edudell@sbcglobal.net. If you only want to have installments sent to you daily until you have the last installment, tell me in your e-mail.

January is a great month for you to be thinking about how you can impact African American History Month. The Buffalo Soldiers National Museum is partnering with The Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC, and the U.S. Department of Reclamations to present "The Forgotten Faces of Ft. Craig" during February.

Ms. Amanda Danning, forensic sculptor, will use the precisely engineered cast produced by University of Houston Professor, Dr. Ali Kamrani to perform a live, progressive reconstruction of the face of U.S. Army Pvt. Thomas Smith, a Buffalo Soldier. Pvt. Smith was identified by coparing the details of his remains with the military enlistment records from the 1800s in New Mexico. This event will trace the story of grave robbers, forensic science, and that of the Buffalo Soldiers at Ft. Craig, New Mexico. This month-long activity will take place at 4816 Main Street (near Rosedale, next to the Museum of Contemporary Crafts). General single day admission is only $15 for each 1 1/4 hour session. If you wish to be involved for each session, contact me for that information. For further information and/or to become an underwriting sponsor, contact me by calling the museum at 713-942-8920. If I am out, ask for the museum founder, Captain Paul Matthews.

You can also leave your own legacy in stone by contributing to the "Soldiers Plaza," a memorial park to be built on the grounds of the historic Houston Light Guard Armory. The armory will also become the new national headquarters for the museum. The project is seeking sponsors who will have their name, the name of a veteran in their family, or to honor another person with a brick or a granite paver. You can contribute $10,000 or $1,000 or $500 or $100. For further information, contact me or Captain Matthews.

If you want to share in the honoring of "Women in the Military" museum gala, contact me for a ticket (or for group tickets) before all seats are taken. The event takes place February 26th at 6:30 p.m. at J.W. Marriott, 5150 Westheimer Road in Houston. Ticket donations are $65 each. You can also become a table sponsor for $650, a general event sponsor for $1,000 or $5,000. There are also event sponsorships available for $10,000 or $25,000 or $50,000. Contact me and I will give you more information.

For those of you who would like to really leave your name in history, you can underwrite a portion of the preservation and renovations of the historic armory. You can underwrite the costs for a room, an exhibit, the main exhibit hall, an office, the library, or any of the other 32 spaces. Your name, or the name of your company, club, church, etc., will be boldly listed above the entrance to the space. Contact me and I will send you a "Preservation Sponsorship" packet.

To find out more about the work we are doing with the museum, visit us online at:
www.buffalosoldiermuseum.com.