When retired Army Col. Edna Cummings steps into City Center Gallery & Books later this month, she will arrive not only as an award-winning author but as a living bridge between personal memory and national history.
City Center Gallery & Books, located in historic downtown Fayetteville, will host Cummings on Saturday, Jan. 24, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. for a book talk and signing celebrating her memoir, A Soldier’s Life. The book was recently named 2025 Book of the Year by the American Writing Awards, bringing national attention to Cummings’ story of military service and historical advocacy.
Cummings’ connection to Fayetteville runs deep and will shape much of the discussion during the event. Raised as an Army brat on Fort Bragg in the 1960s, she attended E.E. Smith High School before graduating from Reid Ross Classical School. Those early years, marked by discipline, mobility and exposure to military culture, laid the foundation for a life of service.
After high school, Cummings enrolled at Appalachian State University and entered the Army ROTC program at a time when few Black students were present on campus and even fewer women were represented. She was the only Black woman in the ROTC program, an experience she credits with strengthening her leadership skills and resolve—qualities that would later define her career as an officer.
Cummings would go on to serve more than two decades on active duty, rising to the rank of colonel and holding leadership roles across the United States and abroad. During the event, she is expected to speak candidly about navigating military life, single motherhood, personal loss and faith, themes that anchor A Soldier’s Life and distinguish it from traditional military memoirs.
For Hank Parfitt, owner of City Center Gallery & Books, hosting Cummings reflects the store’s commitment to presenting voices that connect literature with lived experience.
“Bringing Colonel Cummings to Fayetteville will give our community a chance to engage with someone whose life reflects both service and perseverance,” Parfitt said. “This isn’t just a book signing, it’s a conversation about history, leadership and responsibility.”
Much of that conversation will center on Cummings’ post-retirement work advocating for recognition of Major Charity Adams and the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, the only all-Black Women’s Army Corps unit deployed overseas during World War II. The battalion was tasked with clearing a massive backlog of undelivered mail for U.S. troops in Europe, a mission critical to morale, yet their accomplishments went largely unrecognized for decades.
Parfitt said Cummings’ determination to change that narrative will resonate strongly with readers.
“She saw a gap in our historical memory and committed herself to fixing it,” he said. “Her persistence helped bring long-overdue recognition to women whose service shaped the outcome of the war.”
Through years of advocacy, fundraising and coalition-building, Cummings played a key role in securing a monument honoring Charity Adams at Fort Leavenworth in 2018 and, later, the Congressional Gold Medal awarded to the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion in 2022.
During the Jan. 24 event, Cummings will discuss her book, reflect on the legacy of the 6888th, and sign copies of A Soldier’s Life. Books will be available for purchase at City Center Gallery & Books, located at 112 Hay St., and may be reserved in advance by calling 910-678-8899. The store recommends early purchase due to expected demand.
Store hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday. Downtown parking in city-owned lots and the Franklin Street deck will be free on weekends.
For Fayetteville readers, the upcoming event will offer an opportunity to engage with a story rooted in their own community—one that stretches from local classrooms to the halls of Congress and continues to shape how military history is remembered.

(Photo: Edna Cummings, author of A Soldier's Life, will be at City Center Gallery & Books to talk about her memoir and her life in the military. Photo courtesy of City Center Gallery & Books)