Today In Black History

TODAY IN BLACK HISTORY  JUNE 15

 On this day, June 15, in the year 1877, Henry O. Flipper became the first African American to graduate from the U.S. Military Academy - West Point.  Flipper was born before emancipation, in Thomasville, Georgia on March 21, 1856.  Congressman James C. Freeman recommended Flipper for attendance at West Point, during his freshman year at Atlanta University, (now known as Clark Atlanta University.) Becoming the first to graduate, of the five African American students at the academy, Flipper was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Army and was assigned to become the first African American officer to lead buffalo soldiers in the 10th Calvary.  After being falsely accused of embezzlement by his Commanding Officer.  Although acquitted, Flipper was still dismissed from the army for conduct unbecoming of an officer and gentlemen.  Flipper died in Atlanta, Georgia in 1940 at the age of 84.  In 1976, twenty-six years after his death, the Army overturned the court martial and granted Flipper an honorable discharge.  In 1999, during his term as President of the United States, President Bill Clinton bestowed Flipper a full pardon.

Remembering Henry Ossian Flipper (1856 - 1940) today in Black History