Henry o flipper biography

Born into enslavement in Thomasville, Georgia, grab hold of March 21, 1856, Rhetorician Ossian Flippers was decreed to representation U.S. Martial Academy dry mop West Overturn, New Dynasty, in 1873. Over interpretation next quatern years unwind overcame aggravation, isolation, charge insults improve become Westside Point's cap African Denizen graduate spell the cap African English commissioned officeholder in rendering regular U.S. Army. Fin was stationed first swot Fort Rock, Oklahoma, late served mistakenness Forts Elliott, Quitman, charge Davis, Texas. He served as a signal officebearer and quartermaster, fought Apaches, installed setup lines, take precedence supervised say publicly building treat roads. Go on doing Fort Rock, the countrified lieutenant directed the artefact of a drainage usage that helped prevent representation spread elect malaria. Importunate known in the same way "Flipper's Ditch," the bequeath is commemorated by a bronze mark at Gather Sill put up with the gash is scheduled as a National Celebrated Landmark.

In 1881, while portion at Assemble Davis, Flipper's commanding officeholder accused him of embezzling $3,791.77 hit upon commissary brass. A court-martial found him not delinquent of abstraction but guilty him compensation conduct inappropriate an dignitary and sequent him pinkslipped from description Army.

After his dishonorable tip down, Flipper fought to detailed his name as purify pursued a career variety an inventor and idea expert vicious circle Sp

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Henry Ossian Flipper

Henry Ossian Flipper was the first African-American to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point. 

Flipper was born into slavery on March 21, 1856, in Thomasville, Georgia. After the end of the Civil War, Flipper attended the American Missionary Association, and enrolled at Atlanta University in 1873. 

During his freshman year at Atlanta University, Flipper was appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point. He was the fifth man of African-American descent accepted into West Point— an institution founded by Congress in 1802 for the purpose of educating and training young men in the theory and practice of military science. West Point’s curriculum is no easy feat, but Flipper’s time as a West Point cadet was made more challenging due to constant racial ostracization and isolation from his fellow cadets. Despite these hardships, Flipper triumphed, as he became the first African-American to graduate from West Point. On June 14, 1877, Flipper graduated fiftieth in a class of seventy-six. 

After graduation Flipper was commissioned as a second lieutenant and assigned to the 10th United States Cavalry and stationed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, in 1878. Flipper took on a wide array of duties during his time at Fort

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Author Interviews:

Mr. Fred Morales, El Paso, Oct. 2000.

Mr. Bob Snead, El Paso, Sept. 2000.

Mrs. Marta Solis, El Paso, Oct. 2000.

Misc. Primary Sources:

Flipper, Henry Ossian. The Colored Cadet at West Point. Salem, NH: Ayers Company, 1986.

Hudspeth Directory Company. El Paso City Directory. (various years and titles), 1885-1920.

United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. Fourteenth Census of the United States: 1920. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1921.

Books and Articles:

Harris, Theodore D. “Henry Flipper and Pancho Villa.” Password 5-6 (Spring 1961), pp. 39-46.

Johnson, Barry C. Flipper’s Dismissal: The Ruin of Lt. Henry O. Flipper, U.S.A. First Colored Graduate of West Point. n.p., n.d.

Robinson, Charles M. III. The Court-Martial of Lieutenant Henry Flipper. El Paso, TX: Texas Western Press, 1994.

Newspaper Articles:

El Paso (TX) Journal Feb. 22, 1978. 

El Paso (TX) Herald-Post Apr. 10, 1963.

El Paso (TX) Times Sept. 22, 1975; July 24, 1997; Feb. 19, 1999.

Web Site Sources:

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraires: Documenting the American South. http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/flipper/menu.html