Johnson Chesnutt Whittaker was the second black cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point in New York. He was born in South Carolina to an enslaved mother, Maria J. Whitaker, and her free husband, James Whitaker, in 1858. (Later in life, he added a second “t” to his name.)  By October 1869, Whitaker attended a freedmen’s school in Camden, where he received lessons for five years. In the fall of 1874, he became one of the first African American students to enter the University of South Carolina.  Whittaker was an exceptional student, academically ahead of most of his classmates; he averaged 94 percent in all his courses at the university.  After befriending Richard T. Greener, his professor, Whitaker was nominated to attend West Point.  He arrived there on his birthday, August 23, 1876. Whittaker shared his room with the first black cadet, Henry O. Flipper, who was a few years his senior. Despite his stellar record at the University of South Carolina, Whittaker’s academic performance at West Point was average.  He had learned from Flipper to adjust to the physical harassment from white cadets by turning the other cheek. With Flipper’s graduation, by June 1877, Whittaker was … Continue reading Johnson C. Whittaker (1858-1931)