Henry Ossian Flipper - Legacy

Legacy

In 1976 descendants and supporters applied to the Army Board for the Correction of Military Records on behalf of Flipper. The Board, after stating that it did not have the authority to overturn his court-martial conviction, concluded the conviction and punishment were "unduly harsh and unjust" and recommended that Flipper’s dismissal be changed to a good conduct discharge. The Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) and the Adjutant General approved the Board's findings, conclusions, and recommendations and directed that the Department of the Army issue Flipper a Certificate of Honorable Discharge, dated 30 June 1882, in lieu of his dismissal on the same date. On 21 October 1997, a private law firm filed an application of pardon with the Secretary of the Army on Flipper's behalf. Seven months later, the application was forwarded by the Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) to the Office of the Pardon Attorney at the Department of Justice with a recommendation that the pardon be approved. Many pardon applications had been rejected in the past – as a matter of policy – because the intended recipients were deceased. However, President Bill Clinton pardoned Flipper on 19 February 1999.

After his discharge was changed, a bust of Flipper was unveiled at West Point. Since then, an annual Henry O. Flipper Award has been granted to graduating cadets at the Academy who exhibit "leadership, self-discipline, and perseverance in the face of unusual difficulties."

Throughout his life, Flipper was a prolific author, writing about scientific topics, the history of the Southwest, and his own experiences. In The Colored Cadet at West Point (1878) he describes his experiences at the military academy. In the posthumous Negro Frontiersman: The Western Memoirs of Henry O. Flipper (1963), he describes his life in Texas and Arizona after his discharge from the army.