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1st colored cadet at West Point...
1st colored cadet at West Point...
Item # 668971
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August 13, 1870
THE NEW YORK HERALD, Aug. 13, 1870
* James Webster Smith's mistreatment
* 1st African American appointed to cadetship
* West Point - United States Military Academy
The top of page 7 has one column headings: "The Colored Cadet" "Report of the Court of Inquiry to Investigate the Charges of Ill-Treatment of Cadet J. W. Smith at West Point..." (see) Henry Ossian Flipper is more known because he was the first African American to actually graduate from West Point 7 years later.
Other news of the day. Complete with all 12 pages, small hole on page 7 next to the mentioned report, otherwise nice.
wikipedia notes: James Webster Smith (June 1850 - November 30, 1876) was an American professor and a cadet at the United States Military Academy. A former slave, Smith became a scholar and is recognized as the first black person appointed to a cadetship at West Point. His tenure at the academy, from 1870 to 1874, was fraught with racial prejudice and ended with Smith's formal dismissal a year before completing his studies. Resented by his fellow classmates, Smith lived an isolated lifestyle at West Point, enduring harassment and vandalism. His squadmates only drilled with Smith under threats of demotion or court martial.
Category: Post-Civil War
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