Dr. George Augustus Weaver, 1870-1939

Weaver 001a.jpg

Title

Dr. George Augustus Weaver, 1870-1939

Subject

Physicians
African-American--History--Tuscaloosa

Description

Dr. George Augustus Weaver, born in 1870 in Tuscaloosa, became the first black doctor in the city.

He was a physician and surgeon, and also an educator. His contributions to the education of black students led to a branch of the public library, called the Weaver-Bolden Branch, being named in his honor in west Tuscaloosa.

George Weaver was the son of Lawrence and Lucy Elizabeth Weaver. Lawrence Weaver was a blacksmith, businessman and landowner as well as a trustee for the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church of Tuscaloosa. He was the father of six children; all of them attended college.

George Augustus Weaver was his oldest child and graduated from Talladega College in 1892. Along with $5 a month from his father, Weaver worked as a porter with the Wagner Palace Car Company and the Pullman Company and spent a lot of time on the road when he was not busy with school. His travels took him all over the United States and Canada and provided money for him to continue his studies.

He graduated from Howard University with a medical degree in 1899 and interned at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.

Weaver returned to Tuscaloosa in 1900, but without the funds to rent and furnish an office, he again went on the road as a Pullman porter to earn money to open his office and begin the practice of medicine and surgery.

Dr. Weaver was most active in church, civic and fraternal affairs. He was a Trustee and Deacon of the First African Baptist Church. During this time he made his personal library available for black students to use in their studies.

Dr. George Augustus Weaver died in 1939.

Source

Tuscaloosa News Archive

Contributor

Betty Slowe (Description)
Tuscaloosa Public Library

Type

Photograph

Identifier

813

Coverage

Tuscaloosa (AL)

Original Format

Photograph