Wesley Brown, the first African American graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, has died at the age of 85.
Brown entered the academy on June 30, 1945 and graduated on June 3, 1949. At the academy, Brown did not have a roommate and he reported that he received unfair discipline and at times no one would sit next to him at meals. He was the sixth Black student at the academy but was the first to persist and earn a degree. He later went on to serve in the Korean and Vietnam wars as a civil engineer. He retired from the Navy in 1969 and joined the faculty at Howard University as a physical facilities analyst. He retired from Howard University in 1988.
In 2008, the U.S. Naval Academy named its new field house in his honor.
