Today in Black History, let’s shine the spotlight on the first African-American to graduate from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Henry Ossian Flipper. ✨
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Henry Ossian Flipper was born to enslaved parents in Thomasville, Georgia on March 21, 1856. Flipper was the oldest of five brothers.
His parents were enslaved by different men when his father’s enslaver decided to move to Atlanta.
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Following the Civil War, Flipper’s family remained in Atlanta and Flipper entered the newly-established Atlanta University (now Clark Atlanta University) a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) in 1869.
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When he was as a freshman, he was appointed by Representative James C. Freeman to attend West Point, where four other Black cadets were already attending.
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The small group had a difficult time at the academy, where they were constantly rejected and harassed by white students. Nevertheless, Flipper persevered, and in 1877, became the first of the group to graduate, earning a commission as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army.
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In recognition of his achievements, Flipper was assigned as assistant quartermaster at Fort Davis, Texas where he was responsible for food inventory, distribution, and keeping track of the commissary’s financials.
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In the summer of 1881, Flipper discovered a $3,000 discrepancy in the commissary funds. Knowing he would be blamed for the missing money, he attempted to conceal the loss until he could repay it from his own pocket.
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His commanding officer found out about the missing money, however, and Flipper was court-martialed. The court found him guilty of “conduct unbecoming an officer” and dishonorably dismissed Flipper from the Army in 1882.
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It is said that Flipper was set up due to his getting close to a white woman, who was the sister-in-law of one of the soldiers.
Flipper spent the rest of his life in the Southwest. He later became the assistant to the Secretary of the Interior before his death of a heart attack in 1940. He was 84 years old.
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It wasn’t until 1976, nearly 36 years after his death, that a review of his case declared the punishment Flipper received to be “unduly harsh.” The Army corrected Flipper’s records to show an honorable discharge and President Bill Clinton pardoned Flipper in 1999. ❤️💛🖤💚
Words by Anaverde Magazine
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