Colored Cadet at West Point

In 1873, Henry Ossian Flipper walked through the gates of West Point as one of the first Black cadets to attempt a full course of study at America's most prestigious military academy. Born into slavery in Georgia just years before the Civil War's end, Flipper had taught himself to read and write, attended Atlanta University, and earned an appointment that seemed impossible. What followed was a relentless campaign of exclusion: classmates refused to speak to him, instructors ignored his work, and his fellow Black cadet John W. Williams was systematically driven out for "academic deficiencies." Flipper endured. In 1877, he became the first African American to graduate from West Point. This memoir, published the following year, is his account of that battle - not just against prejudice, but against a system designed to ensure his failure. It stands as both a historic document and a testament to stubborn, luminous resolve. For anyone who believes that being first means being alone, Flipper's story offers a different truth: sometimes being first means clearing a path for everyone who comes after.