The Alabama Veterans Museum and Archives became the recipient Friday of a pair of cavalry boots made for West Point cadets in the mid-1930s.

The gift, from Col. Cecil Himes, U.S. Army Ret., is from the same era as a cavalry saddle the museum received as a donation several years ago, according to museum volunteer Jim Patteson.

Himes, 91, was born April 7, 1915, in Cincinnati, Ohio. He entered West Point on July 1, 1933, and graduated May 12, 1937, as a second lieutenant of the cavalry.

“The cavalry boots were made by Hyer Boot Company of New York,” said Himes. “They sent a representative to the academy to measure our legs and feet for the boots.”

Himes’ overseas assignments included the Army of Occupation in Japan in 1947-48; I Corps Headquarters, Korea, 1953-54; Post Commander Fort Gulick, Canal Zone and Commandant, School of the Americas Canal Zone Panama, 1958-61.

He was promoted to colonel in 1951. He married Ruth Dormady of Rochester, N.Y., and the couple had three children. In 1991, he married Irene Miller of Cincinnati.

The Alabama Veterans Museum and Archives honors the military achievements of men and women of the armed services from the Revolutionary War through the war on terror. The facility is open on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and by appointment for student and organization tours.

The museum hosts “Coffee Call” the first Saturday morning of each month, from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m., for veterans and their spouses.

For more information, call the museum at (256) 771-7578.