Henry Edwin Baker Jr. (September 1, 1857 – April 27, 1928) was the third African American to enter the United States Naval Academy. He later served as an assistant patent examiner in the United States Patent Office, where he would chronicle the history of African-American inventors.
Early life and education
Baker was born on September 1, 1857, in Columbus, Mississippi, and attended the Columbus Union Academy there. He received an appointment at the Naval Academy but encountered racial hazing. After two years, he transferred and completed his education at the Ben-Hyde Benton School of Technology in Washington, D.C., graduating in 1879.
He went into law, graduating in 1881 from Howard University School of Law, a historically black college, at the top of his class. He also completed post-graduate work there in 1883.
Naval Academy
Baker was nominated by Congressman Henry W. Barry while he was living in Columbia, and was sworn in as a cadet midshipman on September 25, 1874.
Like his predecessors James H. Conyers and Alonzo C. McClennan the first and second African Americans to attend the Naval Academy, respectively Baker faced racist attitudes and harassment by other midshipmen. Baker was a social outcast, isolated by white cadets; his only social interaction with another midshipman "except on occasions when he was defending himself against their assaults" occurred when a midshipman from Pennsylvania came to Baker's room at midnight and offered Baker a slice of birthday cake. In order to allay Baker's suspicions, the midshipman showed him a letter from his mother "in which she requested that a slice be given to the colored cadet who was without friends".
A fellow plebe from North Carolina, James Henry Glennon, put Baker on report for calling Glennon a "son of a b**ch" on October 26, 1874. The Superintendent of the Naval Academy, C.R.P. Rodgers, convened a board of inquiry under Commander William T. Sampson to investigate the incident. Glennon had not heard Baker, but other plebes testified that they had heard it and admitted that they referred to Baker as the "nigger" within his hearing. The board found that Baker had said it, but that he was "incited so to act by the bearing of the other cadets". Another board was convened to investigate a report of disobedience during a seamanship drill, when Baker stood still after receiving conflicting orders, but it found no misconduct.
In January 1875, Baker ran into academic trouble when he failed his semi-annual exams in math and French, and the Academic Board recommended dismissal. While awaiting a final ruling, Baker was involved in another altercation on February 7, 1875. While marching back to quarters after supper, Baker was struck from behind by a snowball. Baker shouted, warning those behind him to "[t]ake care at whom you throw snow balls". John Hood, a plebe from Florence, Alabama, asked Baker whom he was addressing, and when Baker replied, "You", Hood struck him in the face. Another midshipman, Lawson Melton of South Carolina (who received his appointment from Robert B. Elliott, a Republican African-American congressman) joined in the attack. Baker escaped and reported the incident. The following morning Hood and Melton, armed with clubs, waylaid Baker and beat him about the head before he could break free and make his escape; he reported this incident to the officer in charge.
In lieu of an investigation, Hood and Melton wrote letters of explanation in which they justified their assault on Baker, with Melton writing:
Superintendent Rogers recommended that the Secretary of the Navy, George M. Robeson, dismiss Hood and Melton for their misconduct and disregard of Baker's rights, as well as their stated intention to renew the violence; Robeson agreed. (Hood was eventually reappointed by Representative Goldsmith W. Hewitt, and graduated second in the Class of 1879.) To forestall additional violence, Rogers punished the freshman with additional marching, extra drills, and restriction to quarters on Saturday evenings; these steps were effective in reducing harassment of Baker.