1877 – Henry Ossian Flipper Becomes First Black West Point Graduate

On June 14, 1877, Henry Ossian Flipper became the first African American to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point. Born into slavery in Georgia in 1856, Flipper overcame enormous racial hostility and isolation during his time at the academy. Despite being ostracized by his classmates and subjected to intense scrutiny, Flipper graduated 50th in a class of 76. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army and assigned to the 10th Cavalry, a distinguished all-Black regiment known as the Buffalo Soldiers. Flipper\’s achievement marked a major milestone in U.S. military and civil rights history. Though later wrongfully discharged, he spent the rest of his life fighting to clear his name—a campaign that finally succeeded in 1999 when President Bill Clinton granted him a posthumous pardon.