Henry O. Flipper Attended Atlanta University, Now Clark Atlanta University, Before Becoming the First Black Graduate of West Point

Did you know that the first African American to graduate from West Point was once a student at the historically Black university now known as Clark Atlanta University? His name was Henry O. Flipper, and his path from slavery to the United States Military Academy is one of the most remarkable stories in American history.

Henry Ossian Flipper was born enslaved on March 21, 1856, in Thomasville, Georgia. After the Civil War, he was educated in schools established for Black students by the American Missionary Association and went on to attend Atlanta University, now Clark Atlanta University, before he received an appointment to West Point in 1873.

At the academy, Flipper excelled in engineering, law, French, and Spanish. On June 14, 1877, he became the first African American to graduate from West Point. According to the National Park Service, when he received his diploma, the crowd of spectators gave him a round of applause.

Commissioned as a second lieutenant, Flipper was assigned to the Tenth U.S. Cavalry, one of the regiments of Buffalo Soldiers, and stationed at Fort Sill in Indian Territory. There he engineered a drainage system to combat malaria that became known as Flipper’s Ditch, a project later designated a National Historic Landmark. He went on to serve at Fort Concho and Fort Davis in Texas.

In 1881, Flipper was charged with embezzling public funds and conduct unbecoming an officer. He was acquitted of the embezzlement charge but convicted on the conduct charge, and on June 30, 1882, he was dishonorably discharged. Flipper spent the rest of his life maintaining his innocence. He built a distinguished career as an engineer and surveyor across the American Southwest, Mexico, and Alaska, and authored memoirs of his experiences. He died on April 26, 1940, in Atlanta.

History eventually caught up with the truth. In 1976, the Army Board for Correction of Military Records upgraded his discharge to honorable, and on February 19, 1999, President Bill Clinton granted him a full pardon.

Today, Flipper’s legacy endures in the honors that bear his name. Flipper’s Ditch at Fort Sill was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977 and still carries his name. A bust of Flipper was unveiled at West Point in 1976, and each year the academy presents the Henry O. Flipper Award to the graduating cadet who best exemplifies leadership, self-discipline, and perseverance in the face of unusual difficulties. From Atlanta University to the Long Gray Line, Henry O. Flipper broke a barrier that no one had broken before him.