Born
into slavery in Thomasville, Georgia, on March 21, 1856, Henry Ossian Flipper
was appointed to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, in 1873.
Over the next four years he overcame harassment, isolation, and insults to become
West Point's first African American graduate and the first African American
commissioned officer in the regular U.S. Army. Flipper was stationed first at
Fort Sill, Oklahoma, later served at Forts Elliott, Quitman, and Davis, Texas.
He served as a signal officer and quartermaster, fought Apaches, installed telegraph
lines, and supervised the building of roads. At Fort Sill, the young lieutenant
directed the construction of a drainage system that helped prevent the spread
of malaria. Still known as "Flipper's Ditch," the ditch is commemorated
by a bronze marker at Fort Sill and the fort is listed as a National Historic
Landmark.
In 1881, while serving at Fort Davis, Flipper's commanding
officer accused him of embezzling $3,791.77 from commissary funds. A court-martial
found him not guilty of embezzlement but convicted him of conduct unbecoming
an officer and ordered him dismissed from the Army.
After his dishonorable discharge, Flipper fought to clear
his name as he pursued a career as an engineer and an expert on Spanish and Mexican
land law. In 1898, a bill reinstating him into the Army and restoring his rank
was introduced in Congress on his behalf. To bolster his case, he sent Congressman
John A. T. Hull, chairman of the House Committee on Military Affairs, the letter
displayed below along with a brief supporting the bill's passage. Flipper's
letter to Hull is an eloquent statement asking Congress for "that justice
which every American citizen has the right to ask." The bill and several
later ones were tabled, and Flipper died in 1940 without vindication, but in
1976, the Army granted him an honorable discharge, and in 1999, President Bill
Clinton issued him a full pardon.
The National Archives and Records Administration is pleased
to present these documents from the career of a man who served his country with
honor and fought injustice tenaciously.
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Letter from Lt. Henry O. Flipper to
Representative John A. T. Hull, October 23, 1898
Center for Legislative Archives,
Records of the
U.S. House of Representatives
National Archives and Records Administration
Reproduced with the permission of
the U.S. House of Representatives
Image Top Right:
Photograph of Lt. Henry O. Flipper
Photo by Kennedy, ca. 1877
Center for Legislative Archives,
Records of the U.S. House of Representatives
National Archives and Records Administration
Enlarged
View
Reproduced with the permission
of the U.S. House of Representatives.
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