Buffalo Soldiers Museum

What Buffalo Soldiers Museum does

The Buffalo Soldiers Museum is a private nonprofit historical and educational institution founded in 2005 in Tacoma, Washington, and opened to the public in 2012. It preserves and presents the history of the Buffalo Soldiers, African American military servicemen from 1866-1944, through five physical exhibit rooms and online virtual tours hosted on Vimeo. The museum serves K-12 students (aligned with Washington State Social Studies Learning Standards for grades 5, 8, and 11), general history enthusiasts, and corporate/community partners through free public school tours, paid Summer Learning and Early Learning Programs, and annual fundraising events including a golf tournament, a Labor Day Festival, MLK Jr. Day, and Black History Month programming at partner venues.

The museum operates with a small staff of 1-10 employees, governed by an 11-member Board of Directors and led by Executive Director Jackie Jones-Hook. Its technology footprint is modest: Vimeo for virtual tour video distribution, Click & Pledge, Square, and PayPal for online donations and calendar sales, and Google reCAPTCHA for form security. There is no proprietary software, no mobile app, and no API offering.

Revenue is generated through four principal streams: individual donations and contributions, corporate sponsorships (with the Labor Day Festival presenting tier at $10,000), annual calendar merchandise sales at $15 per unit plus shipping, and event registration fees for the golf tournament. The business model is consistent with a community-supported cultural nonprofit, reliant on episodic fundraising events, small-dollar donations, and grant-funded educational partnerships rather than transactional revenue at scale.

Name

Buffalo Soldiers Museum

Legal name

9th and 10th Horse Cavalry Buffalo Soldiers Museum

Website

https://buffalosoldierstacoma.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Buffalo Soldiers Museum is a Tacoma-based nonprofit museum that preserves African American military history from 1866-1944 through exhibits, K-12 educational programs, and community events, serving students, history enthusiasts, and corporate sponsors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Historical Museum and Cultural Education Services

NAICS

Museums (712110), Historical Sites (71212)

akta.pro primary industry

History Museums (THAJADAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Specialty Museums (e.g., Maritime, Aviation, Sports, Music, Film) (THAJADAF)

Keywords

• Historical museum exhibits
• African American military history
• Educational tour programs
• Community cultural events
• Nonprofit heritage preservation

Headquarters

HQ city

Tacoma

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Contributions: Online donations accepted through Click & Pledge and Square payment platforms. The museum relies on financial contributions from supporters for operations.
2. Calendar Sales: Annual Military History and Negro League Baseball Calendar sold for $15 plus $5 shipping. Order processing through Click & Pledge secure platform.
3. Corporate Sponsorships: Labor Day Festival sponsorships ranging from $250 (Double Sponsor) to $10,000 (Presenting Sponsor). Golf tournament sponsorships also available.
4. Golf Tournament Registration: Annual military appreciation golf tournament with registration fees, includes breakfast, lunch, and prize opportunities.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Buffalo Soldiers Museum is a nonprofit historical museum in Tacoma, Washington that preserves and presents the history of African American military service (the Buffalo Soldiers) from 1866 to 1944 through five thematic exhibit rooms, hands-on artifact displays, and guided tours. It supplements on-site visits with free K-12 educational tours, a Summer Learning Program at Washington State historic sites, virtual video tours hosted on Vimeo, annual fundraising events (Golf Tournament, Labor Day Festival, MLK Jr. Day, Black History Month), and merchandise such as the annual Military History & Negro League Baseball Calendar.

Product overview

Buffalo Soldiers Museum operates as a historical museum and educational institution offering a portfolio of programs centered on African American military history from 1866-1944. The core offering consists of museum exhibits across five rooms and virtual video tours accessible online. The museum provides educational programs including Summer Learning Program (collaboration with historic park sites), Early Learning Program (storytelling with Frederick Remington artwork), and Public School Tours (aligned with Washington State learning standards). Annual events include the Golf Tournament, Labor Day Festival, MLK Jr. Day Celebration, and Black History Month programming. The museum also sells merchandise including the annual Military History & Negro League Baseball Calendar. All components serve the mission of educating, preserving, and presenting Buffalo Soldiers history and contributions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Virtual Tours Online video-based virtual tour experience featuring four video segments (From Slaves to Soldiers, Military Life Room, Black Soldiers WWII, and Bravery and Heroism), accessible via Vimeo for remote visitors.
• Public School Tours Free American History educational tours for K-12 students emphasizing military history from 1863-1944, aligned with Washington State Social Studies Learning Standards for 5th, 8th, and 11th graders. Includes 2-hour interactive guided tours through five thematic rooms.
• Summer Learning Program Intensive one-week educational collaboration between the museum and historic park sites in Washington State. Students visit Buffalo Soldiers Museum, Fort Lawton, DuPont bivouac site, American Lake Maneuvers, and National History Park at Fort Vancouver.
• Early Learning Program Story Time featuring Frederick Remington Artwork for young learners, in partnership with Tacoma Public Schools and Libraries, introducing concepts of American history, culture, and arts through five short stories based on Remington paintings about frontier life.
• 2026 Military History & Negro League Baseball Calendar Annual calendar featuring historical photography and artwork celebrating Buffalo Soldiers military history and Negro League Baseball pioneers, priced at $15 plus $5 shipping.
• Annual Golf Tournament Annual Military Appreciation fundraising golf tournament held at Eagles Pride Golf Course in DuPont, Washington, featuring prizes including a $2,500 Putting Contest and $10,000 Hole-in-One. Funds support youth education programs and public school partnerships.
• Labor Day Festival Annual community festival celebrating military service and community labor forces, featuring Army vs. Air Force softball game, Longshoremen vs Firefighters game, music, family activities, and food vendors at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma.
• MLK Jr. Day Celebration Annual partnership with the City of Tacoma for the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration.
• Black History Month Events Annual Black History Month programming commemorating American freedom contributions, featuring events at Museum of History and Industry in Seattle and Washington State History Museum in Tacoma.

Quantifiable outcome

• Free educational tours available Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday throughout academic year
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Tacoma CreatescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership providing free transportation for public school tours to the museum. Enables equitable access to educational programming for Tacoma area schools regardless of budget constraints.
• Tacoma Public SchoolscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFormal educational partnership for classroom tours and the Summer Learning Program. Supports fulfillment of Washington State Social Studies Learning Standards for 5th, 8th, and 11th grade students.
• Historic Park Sites in Washington StatecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative network including Fort Lawton at Discovery Park in Seattle, Buffalo Soldiers Bivouac Site in DuPont, American Lake Maneuvers at Sequalitchew Creek, and National History Park at Fort Vancouver for the Summer Learning Program.
• Tacoma Public LibrariesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for Early Learning Program featuring Story Time and the Journey of the Buffalo Soldiers series for young learners.
• Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerSeattle venue partner for Black History Month 2026 celebration on February 12 at 860 Terry Avenue, North Seattle.
• Washington State History MuseumminorGTM or Marketing PartnerTacoma venue partner for Black History Month 2026 celebration on February 19 at 1911 Pacific Avenue, Tacoma.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Buffalo Soldiers National Museum: Houston-based museum also dedicated exclusively to preserving Buffalo Soldiers history. Operates as the only direct duplicate of the Tacoma museum nationally, competing for the same donor, media, and educational audiences.
• Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History: Detroit-based museum dedicated to African American history. Comparable as a community-anchored cultural institution delivering exhibits, K-12 educational programming, and event-based fundraising.
• African American Civil War Museum: Washington, D.C. museum focused on African American military service in the Civil War era. Closely aligned subject matter (Black military history) and similar small-museum operating model with educational mission.
• Negro Leagues Baseball Museum: Kansas City museum preserving the history of Negro Leagues baseball, with which the Tacoma museum jointly produces an annual calendar. Comparable as a niche, narrative-driven cultural institution with strong educational outreach and merchandise revenue.
• Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History: Baltimore museum chronicling Maryland African American history and culture. Comparable community-museum operating profile with K-12 programming and exhibit-driven mission.

Regional players

• Northwest African American Museum: Seattle-based museum preserving African American art, history, and culture in the Pacific Northwest. Comparable in geographic catchment, community-museum model, and K-12 educational programming audience.
• Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI): Seattle-based regional history museum and active programming partner of the Buffalo Soldiers Museum for Black History Month events. Comparable in Pacific Northwest museum audience and historical-interpretation model.
• Washington State History Museum: Tacoma-based state history museum and event partner for the Buffalo Soldiers Museum's Black History Month programming. Comparable in regional museum audience, K-12 educational mission, and event hosting model.

Broad incumbents

• National Museum of African American History and Culture: Smithsonian institution in Washington, D.C. covering African American history and culture broadly, including Buffalo Soldiers. Sets the national narrative the Tacoma museum supports at a local level, and competes for major institutional attention and funding.
• National WWI Museum and Memorial: Kansas City-based museum and memorial covering World War I, overlapping with the Tacoma museum's WWII-era Black soldiers programming. Comparable in military-history subject matter and educational programming model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/BuffaloSoldiersMuseum
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/9th-and-10th-horse-cavalry-buffalo-soldiers-museum

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Buffalo Soldiers Museum