Henry Ossian Flipper Enters West Point as First Black Cadet

Henry Ossian Flipper entered the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1873 as the first African American cadet. Born enslaved in Georgia, he endured four years of total social ostracism from white classmates — eating, living, and drilling alone. He graduated in 1877, the first Black West Point graduate, and served as an officer with the Buffalo Soldiers on the western frontier.