Walk into Fort Verde’s museum building this year and you are likely to meet a new resident: An historic figure cut in period clothing, a bit stiff but still welcoming.
“His name is Bradley,” Fort Verde State Historic Park Manager Sheila Stubler said of the six-foot African-American male mannequin. According to her, the name is important — the only thing, in fact, that could have stood in the way of the park adopting Bradley as the centerpiece of its new Buffalo Soldier display.
Last year, the mannequin’s former owner, Tucson Bufffalo Soldier reenactor Cheryl Jackson, contacted Stubler with an interesting offer. Jackson was in possession of display materials for an exhibit revolving around the mannequin.
“The only stipulation is that you don’t change his name,” Jackson said.
More than happy to honor this wish, Stubler made the four-hour trip south to pick up Bradley. She brought the mannequin back and began work on the display itself. Jackson had already created signs with verbiage about the Buffalo Soldiers. She had given Stubler a few horse-hair blankets. Beyond this, however, Stubler was on her own.
Initially, there was some question as to whether Stubler chose the proper jacket for Bradley. As with many aspects of historical reproduction, considerable debate exists about even the most miniscule seeming details.
“I was told, it’s actually four buttons on the jacket,” Stubler said. She changed the detail to match historic records of what a man like Bradley would have worn during the Indian Wars era. Standing in a place where two troops of Buffalo Soldiers were actually stationed means Stubler works hard to get the details right.
Not long ago, a fellow history buff had pointed to a pair of red pajamas on display — the kind with the two-button panel positioned on its wearer’s backside, otherwise known as flapjacks — and told Stubler that it was not historically accurate: Fort Verde closed in 1891, while the flapjack was not invented until 1902.
“We just thought they were cute,” Stubler said. She shrugged with a smile, but admitted that the effort to do justice to the Buffalo Soldiers compels her to counsel with local reenactors and historians.
| Buffalo Soldier Event |
This year is not only the 10th anniversary of Fort Verde State Historic Park’s Buffalo Soldier event — it is also the 150th anniversary of Congress passing the bill to officially enlist African-Americans into military.
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