Johnson Chesnut Whittaker

Johnson Chesnut Whittaker (1858-1931) was one of the first black men to win an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point.Purdum, Todd S. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE3DD1E3CF933A05754C0A963958260&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fOrganizations%2fU%2fUnited%20States%20Military%20Academy "Week in Review: 115 Years Late, He Won His Bars."] "New York Times" (July 30, 1995).] When at the academy, he was brutally assaulted and then expelled after being convicted of faking the incident. Over sixty years after his death, his name was formally cleared when he was posthumously commissioned by President Bill Clinton.

Biography

Whittaker was born into slavery on the Chesnut Plantation in Camden, South Carolina.Purdum, Todd S. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CEEDF123AF936A15754C0A963958260 "Black Cadet Gets a Posthumous Commission."] "New York Times" (July 25, 1995).] He studied privately with Richard Greener, the first African American to graduate from Harvard college.Fact|date=July 2007 Whittaker later attended the University of South Carolina, then a freedmen's school.Fact|date=July 2007 He was appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1876 under congressman S. L. Hoge. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE1DB1539F932A05752C0A962958260 "Editorial: Seeking 'Fair Deal' for a Black Cadet."] "New York Times" (January 31, 1994).] For most of his time at West Point, he was the only black cadet, [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE1DE1231F933A15754C0A963958260&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss "Editorial: After a Century, a Black Cadet Is Vindicated."] "New York Times" (July 20, 1995).] and he was ostracized by his white peers.

In the morning of April 5, 1880, he was found tied to his bed, unconscious, bleeding, and bruised. His hands and face had been cut by a razor, and burned pages from his Bible were strewn about his room. Whittaker told administrators that he had been attacked by three fellow cadets, but his account of the morning was not believed. West Point administrators said that he had fabricated the attack to win sympathy. After more than a year of nationally publicized hearings, Whittaker was found guilty in an 1881 court martial and expelled from West Point. The prosecuting attorney was West Point Judge Advocate Major Asa Bird Gardiner who later was a Sachem of Tammany Hall in New York and served as New York District Attorney from 1897 - 1900. Though the verdict was overturned in 1883 by President Chester A. Arthur, West Point reinstated the expulsion on the grounds that Whittaker had failed an exam.

In his later life, Whittaker was a teacher, lawyer, high school principal, and psychology professor. He died in 1931.

Posthumous commission

In the 1970s, a book about Whittaker by John Marszalek, a historian at Mississippi State University, drew attention to his case. It was not until 1994, however, when a television movie based on the book aired, that a movement for his posthumous commission gained ground.

On July 25, 1995, President Bill Clinton awarded the commission to Whittaker's heirs, saying, "We cannot undo history. But today, finally, we can pay tribute to a great American and we can acknowledge a great injustice."

There is now a drama production known as Matter of Honor, that retells Whittaker's story while at West Point. It plays at the Pasadena Playhouse in Pasadena, California.

References

Further reading/viewing

*, the TV movie that drew attention to Whittaker's case.
* Marszalek, John. "Assault at West Point: The Court Martial of Johnson Whittaker." Touchstone (1994). ISBN 0020345151.
* Marszalek, John. [http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1971/5/1971_5_30.shtml "A Black Cadet at West Point."] "American Heritage Magazine".
* Chepiga, Michael "Matter of Honor," a stage play produced at Pasadena Playhouse in September 2007
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