classes such as upper-level languages that were integrated, as were graduation exercises. J. C. Shumaker was superintendent of the schools and J.T. Whitson was principal of the colored school. Both men recognized Charles’ potential and encouraged him to complete his education. During his high school years, in addition to the usual courses, Charles learned German & French, graduating with honors in 1881. Of the twenty-one graduates in his class, Charles was the only one of African descent. Each of the graduates performed and/or spoke at the ceremony. Charles played a piece on the piano and gave an oration entitled “Let There Be Light”. Following graduation, before entering West Point, Charles taught at the colored school in Ripley. Although there were separate schools for colored and white students, the monthly teacher meetings were integrated. At one of these meetings, Young presented a paper entitled,” We Must Educate.” During these formative years, in addition to his teachers, Charles was mentored by John Parker. Parker saw the same potential in Charles that his teachers did and, consequently, did all he could to encourage Charles to excel; to move beyond his world in Ripley and to do his part to improve the status of his race in America. In 1883, an ad in the Ripley Bee, the local newspaper, announced that an entrance exam for West Point would be given in Hillsboro, Ohio. Charles took the exam and, of the twenty-six men who took it, he placed second. Each congressional district could nominate one candidate and Representative Alphonso Hart, of Ohio’s 12th District, appointed William Stamats, but Stamats resigned the position. Hart then nominated Young in April of 1884 and Charles left for West Point in June of that year. Biographer Brian G. Shellum observed, “Young was fortunate that his parents eventually settled in Ripley, Ohio. Ripley was a one-of-a-kind community, and the Youngs could have found no better place in Ohio to start their life.” West Point When Young reported to the United States Military Academy at West Point as a cadet in 1884, there was already one other Black cadet, John Hanks Alexander, who had entered in 1883 (graduated in 1887). Young and Alexander shared a room for three years at West Point. Young had to repeat his first year when he failed mathematics, delaying his graduation until 1889. Although regularly discriminated against, Young made several lifelong friends among his later classmates,