On May 17, 2025, the Seminole Indian Scouts Cemetery Association honored its founder Charles Emily Wilson by celebrating what would have been her 115th birthday. Miss Charles, as we affectionately called her, was born on May 16, 1910, at the Seminole Camp at Fort Clark in Brackettville, Texas. She was the last baby born at the “Camp,” as it was called, before the Seminole Negro Indian Scouts were disbanded and they and their families were forced to relocate in 1914.
Her parents were Billy and Rebecca Wilson. Billy was a Black Creek who served as a Seminole Negro Indian Scout. Her mom was the daughter of Sampson July, who was a Florida-born leader of the Black Seminoles.
Miss Charles’ mom would encourage her two daughters, Charles and Dorothy, to attend college. Even though Rebecca only had a grade school education, she wanted more for her girls. Attending college would make them the first within their Black Seminole community to do so. Miss Charles would go on to attend Huston-Tillotson University, a private HBCU, located in Austin, Texas. She majored in elementary education and library science. After receiving her bachelor’s degree from Huston-Tillotson, she entered Prairie View A&M College in Houston. Prairie View is also an HBCU. After receiving her master’s degree in bilingual education, Miss Charles returned to Brackettville, where, along with her sister, she taught the local Black Seminole children at the George Washing Carver School. While at Carver School, she also served as the school librarian and, for two years, she served as the school’s high school principal.
Following desegregation, she taught at Brackett ISD and became one of the first Black teachers to do so. She retired from teaching in 1979.
While her career as an educator helped her to leave a lasting impact on her students, Miss Charles’s passion for the history of her people also helped her leave an indelible mark on the community at large. It began while she was still teaching. In the 1950s, Miss Charles and Deacon “Uncle” Tony Wilson started the Seminole Indian Scouts Cemetery Association (SISCA), in order to take care of the graves at the Seminole Indian Scouts Cemetery. SISCA was officially founded by Miss Charles in 1967.
In 1962, following her mom’s death, Miss Charles took over the planning for Seminole Days, which is our annual celebration that honors and celebrates our legacy and heritage. In 1985, she started the parade, which is an important component of our celebration. Seminole Days has expanded into a three-day event filled with many activities.
In 1992, Miss Charles spoke at the Smithsonian Institute’s Festival of American Folklife in Washington, DC. Her impactful speech still causes reverberations to this day. She spoke about the Black Seminole’s origins, our legacy, and our culture.
She spent her life making sure that the history of her ancestors would never be forgotten. While she didn’t have any children of her own, she created a lineage of “forever students” who are still following her example and making sure that her legacy isn’t forgotten. Miss Charles Emily Wilson passed away on July 24, 2006, at the age of 94.
