The Perseverance of Dreams
By Renissa Gannie
John William Bell
April 19, 1919- April 8, 1998
John Bell, circa World War II: Taken from the Bell Family Album
Life for African Americans in the United States can be harsh and often downright brutal, and for a boy with little education, it could be bitter and unforgiving. John William Bell was born to Marjorie Tapp-Taylor and John Bell in Cameron, Missouri, on the19th of April, 1919.[1] He was the only boy in a family of four sisters. When John was 12 years old, his father died in a fire, which left his family destitute. As the only boy of the family, it was his duty to seek employment to help his mother put food on the table. John began working odd jobs until he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps.[2] The Civilian Conservation Corps was a work relief program that was founded by Franklin Roosevelt during the Great Depression and provided employment to millions of American men.[3] The Civilian Conservation Corps was segregated and African-Americans were often turned away from admittance. However, there were groups of African Americans that served in the Civilian Conservation Corps under the banner of segregation.[4] To gain admittance to the program, John had to lie about his age as he was too young to qualify for the program. John worked for the Civilian Conservation Corps for five years and was part of the construction crew that built the Lone Star Lake in Kansas.[5] John’s mother remarried, and the burden of taking care of the household was lifted. He then met and married Minnie Mae Harvell on November 28, 1940, in Olathe, Kansas. Minnie Mae would later accompany her husband to every military base he was assigned.[6]
On March 11, 1941, at the age of twenty-one, John was drafted into the United States military. He was stationed at Fort Riley, where he trained horses.[7] John Bell, however, wished to be a Buffalo Soldier and was told by one of his supervisors that he would eventually become one.[8] The Buffalo Soldiers were an all African American Cavalry regiment of the United States Army established in 1886 that served in the Western United States.[9] The original Buffalo Soldiers mainly served on the Western Frontier following the American Civil War. In 1866, six all-black cavalry and infantry regiments were created after Congress passed the Army Organization Act. Their main tasks were to capture cattle rustlers and thieves, and protect settlers, stagecoaches, wagon trains, and railroad crews along the Western Front.[10]
John was assigned to the 155 Coast Auxiliary as part of Battery Division B, however. With the 155 Coast Auxiliary he was stationed in San Francisco, California, where he and his division patrolled the coast, operated machine guns, planted mines, and kept a constant vigilance to protect the American people.[11]
First on the right: John Bell at Fort Logan Hospital: Circa 1950 Taken from the Berry Family Album
On November 28, 1944, in the state of Washington, Private First-Class John William Bell was honorably discharged from the United States Army. He had served four years and received the Good Conduct Medal.[12] John Bell stayed in Washington working on the Grand Coulee Dam,[13] but as the project was completed and work was hard to find, John decided to move his family back to Kansas. Faith intervened, however, and on their way to Kansas, John and Minnie Mae decided to stop in Denver to see friends. John’s friend informed him that Fort Logan Hospital was hiring, and so John applied. Winona Bell-Daigle, John’s daughter, recalls the story of how John was hired at Fort Logan: “Daddy and my brother went to Fort Logan to see the man that was hiring and my brother kept singing happy birthday. The man was so impressed with my brother’s singing, and thought my brother was so cute, that he gave Dad the job.”[14]
John began working at Fort Logan as a research technician. He worked with animals and was subjected to high levels of radiation, which eventually left him scarred and damaged.[15] Although John held a job with the government, he also started working for the Public Service Company of Colorado, both jobs on a full-time basis. His son John Bell Jr. recalls him working 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Fort Logan and 5:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. at the public service company. John would work for Fort Logan for twenty years and the public service company for thirty years.[16] No stranger to hard work, he was able to pursue his passion for horse training. John Bell would eventually buy a farm in Westminster, Colorado and raise hogs and train horses. His hobby and passion for working with horses, and his unfulfilled dream of being a Buffalo Soldier, led him to start the nonprofit organization, the Buffalo Soldiers of the American West.[17] John William Bell modeled the nonprofit organization the Buffalo Soldiers of the American West after the 10th Cavalry M Company, organized in 1867 under Commanding Officer Capt. Alvord.[18]
John Bell, Founder of the Buffalo Soldiers of the American West, circa 1993: Taken from website http://www.buffalosoldiers-amwest.org/history.htm
The first meeting of the Buffalo Soldiers of the American West took place in Westminster, Colorado, in 1992. Although John Bell had only a 5th-grade elementary education, he knew the importance of education and culture. Through the reenactment of the Buffalo Soldiers, he was able to teach the history and contributions of African American men and women in the United States. John also was able to fulfill his lifelong dream through the reenactment. Today the Buffalo Soldiers of the American West travel all over the United States, reenacting the rich history of African American contributions in the United States.[19]
John William Bell loved the United States military. It shaped him and gave him opportunities he would not have otherwise had. He embraced the chance he was given and raised a family through hard work and dedication. He raised his children with the attitude he embodied all his life, “treat people how you wanted to be treated,” and “when a door closes, there is always another way to achieve your dreams.”[20] John embodied these traits and proved them successful as his legacy showed a man deeply in love with history. The Buffalo Soldiers, the military, and his passion for horses live on through his children and grandchildren. On April 8, 1998, John William Bell died at the age of 78.[21] The legacy he left behind is being carried on by his children, daughter-in -law, and grandchildren. He was beloved by his children John William Bell Jr., Coleman, Winona, and Denise, and by his community.
Footnotes ↓
[1] Kansas State Census Collection, 1855-1925, accessed on August 15, 2020, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com.
[2] John William Bell Jr. and Winona Bell-Daigle, “Life of John William Bell” interview by Renissa Gannie, July 24, 2020, DU VLP.
[3] Civilian Conservation Corps | United States History,” Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed on August 15, 2020, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Civilian-Conservation-Corps; John William Bell Jr. and Winona Bell-Daigle, “Life of John William Bell,” interview by Renissa Gannie.
[4] The Living New Deal, “African Americans and the CCC,” accessed on August 28, 2020, https://livingnewdeal.org; John A Salmond, The Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933-1942: A New Deal Case Study (Ann Arbor, Mich.: University Microfilms International, 1989).
[5] John William Bell Jr. and Winona Bell-Daigle, “Life of John William Bell,” interview by Renissa Gannie; Cole Burnes and the Kansas Historical Society, “Civilian Conservation Corps at Lone Star Lake in Douglas County,” accessed on August 15, 2020, www.kshs.org.
[6] John William Bell Jr. and Winona Bell-Daigle, “Life of John William Bell,” interview by Renissa Gannie.
[7] WWII Draft Registration Cards for Kansas, accessed on August 15, 2020, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com.
[8] John William Bell Jr. and Winona Bell-Daigle, “Life of John William Bell,” interview by Renissa Gannie.
[9] “Buffalo Soldiers,” accessed on August 15, 2020, https://www.history.com; “Buffalo Soldiers: An American Legacy,” YouTube Video, accessed on August 15, 2020, www.youtube.com.
[10] Ibid.
[11] John William Bell Jr. and Winona Bell-Daigle, “Life of John William Bell,” interview by Renissa Gannie.
[12] Ibid.
[13] Ibid.; Christian McClung, “Grand Coulee Dam Construction and Legacy,” accessed on August 15,2020, https://depts.washington.edu.
[14]John William Bell Jr. and Winona Bell-Daigle, “Life of John William Bell,” interview by Renissa Gannie.
[15]Ibid.
[16] Ibid.
[17] “Buffalo Soldiers of the American West,” accessed on August 15, 2020, http://www.buffalosoldiers-amwest.org/history.htm.
[18] “Buffalo Soldiers,” accessed on August 15, 2020, https://www.history.com; “Buffalo Soldiers: An American Legacy,” YouTube Video, accessed August 15,2020, www.youtube.com.
[19] Paul W. Stewart and Wallace Yonne Ponce, Black Cowboys (1986; repr. Niwot, Co: University Press Of Colorado, 1991), 190; John William Bell Jr. and Winona Bell-Daigle, “Life of John William Bell,” interview by Renissa Gannie;“Buffalo Soldiers: An American Legacy,” YouTube Video, accessed on August 15, 2020, www.youtube.com; “Black Colorado Cowboys, Farmers & Ranchers Honored,” YouTube Video, accessed on August 15, 2020, https://www.youtube.com.
[20] John William Bell Jr. and Winona Bell-Daigle, “Life of John William Bell,” interview by Renissa Gannie.
[21] U.S. Veteran’s Affairs, “John W Bell. Find A Grave Memorial,” accessed on August 15, 2020, www.findagrave.com; John William Bell Jr. and Winona Bell-Daigle, “Life of John William Bell,” interview by Renissa Gannie.
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