By Debbie Cutler

Mizzou Alumni Bruce Lemmie graduated from the Department of History in the early 1970s and now resides in Texas where he is retired after a long career at State Farm Insurance Company. He now volunteers on several projects to preserve the memories and experiences of his African American ancestors. One project is helping to inform the world about the history of Buffalo Soldiers and get the word out about the Buffalo Soldier National History Museum, where he is a board member. African Americans participated in every great American war since the Revolutionary War.

The second is preserving and building a memorial park upon the land where Black prisoners, victims of the convict-leasing system, were buried during a time when Americans of African descent were considered free, unless incarcerated – a loophole in the 13th amendment. He also researches his own family’s slavery past through genealogy.