George J. Austin

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George James Austin
Bornc. 1881
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
DiedAugust 19, 1930
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
EducationTuskegee Institute,
Fort Des Moines Provisional Army Officer Training School
Occupation(s)Military officer, ducator, insurance salesman, activist
SpouseMary Louise Dotson (m. 1906–1930; death)
Children4, including Helen Elsie Austin
RelativesMentor Dotson (father in-law)

George James Austin Sr. (c. 1881 – August 19, 1930), was an American military officer, educator, and insurance salesman.[1] He was a Black military officer in the United States, who served in the Spanish-American War and World War I. He worked for Black representation in the U.S. military during a time of racial segregation. Austin served on-campus as a military educator at historically Black colleges, including Prairie View College (now Prairie View A&M University), Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University), and St. Paul Normal and Industrial School (now Saint Paul's College).

Early life and education[edit]

George James Austin was born in 1881[2] or 1887 in Cincinnati, Ohio, to parents Jane and Robert Austin.[citation needed] His father Robert was one of the earliest Black residents in the city of Cincinnati.[3]

He trained at Fort Des Moines Provisional Army Officer Training School, and attended Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University).[when?][4][5]

Career[edit]

Austin served in the volunteer army during the Spanish-American War.[1][6] He also served in the United States Army in World War I from 1917 to 1919.[7] He was in the 92nd Infantry Division (and 317th Engineer Regiment).[7][8] Austin attained the military rank of major.[3]

In 1912, Austin was commandant (similar to modern-day ROTC commandant) at Prairie View College (now Prairie View A&M University).[9] He also served as a commandant at Tuskegee Institute;[when?][10][11] and as the commodore of cadets at St. Paul Normal and Industrial School (now Saint Paul's College) in Lawrenceville, Virginia, where he followed the "colored regiment campaign".[when?][12][13]

He noted around 1917, that Blacks were prohibited from attending the fourteen officer training camps on the United States.[13] In 1917, Austin corresponded with civil rights activist Joel Elias Spingarn.[14] He wrote general Leonard Wood about a segregated summer camp for college students.[15]

Austin eventually moved to Cincinnati and entered the insurance business.[10] He died on August 19, 1930 at St. Mary's Hospital in Cincinnati.[16]

Posthumously Austin was honored at the Cincinnati Memorial Day Parade in 1938.[17]

Personal life and family[edit]

Austin married Mary Louise Dotson in 1906.[18] They had a few children together. Austin's father in-law (and Mary Louise's father) was Alabama politician, Mentor Dotson.[19]

Austin was the father of Helen Elsie Austin, an attorney and Baháʼí faith leader.[20] Elsie Austin was another of his daughters, she was the first black female graduate of Cincinnati Law School (now University of Cincinnati College of Law) in the 1920s.[21]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Pittman, W. Sidney (1969). "Captain George J. Austin". Alexander's Magazine. Vol. 2–3. Negro Universities Press. pp. 37–38, 108.
  2. ^ Note: Austin's tombstone and death certificate both give his year of birth as 1881, but other documents say otherwise
  3. ^ a b "Obituary: Robert Austin". The Cincinnati Enquirer. October 11, 1930. p. 22. Retrieved 2023-12-09 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Graduates and Teachers In Booker Washington's School Now In Army Training Camp, The Great Spirit Booker Washington Still Lives". The Bystander. 1917-08-10. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-12-09 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Army Released Austin For Alumni Gathering". The New York Age. 1926-06-26. p. 9. Retrieved 2023-12-09 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Sign petitions to keep Austin at local Center". The Times Recorder. Zanesville, OH. April 2, 1921. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ a b "letter by George J Austin, father of later Baha'i Helen Elsie Austin". The Bystander. January 25, 1918. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-12-09 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Parade". Cincinnati Post. 10 May 1919.
  9. ^ "800 Negro Students: Prairie View College Growing Rapidly and Fame Is Extending". Austin American-Statesman. 1912-10-28. p. 6. Retrieved 2023-12-09 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ a b Neely, Ruth (1939). "Mary Louise Austin". Women of Ohio: A Record of Their Achievements in the History of the State. S. J. Clarke Publishing Company. pp. 119, 644.
  11. ^ Colored American Magazine. Vol. 10–11. Negro Universities Press. 1969. p. 359.
  12. ^ Sammons, Jeffrey T.; Jr, John H. Morrow (2015-09-26). Harlem's Rattlers and the Great War: The Undaunted 369th Regiment and the African American Quest for Equality. University Press of Kansas. pp. 103–104. ISBN 978-0-7006-2138-5.
  13. ^ a b Salter I, Krewasky A. (2014-01-10). The Story of Black Military Officers, 1861-1948. Routledge. p. 58. ISBN 978-1-134-74944-7.
  14. ^ Sammons, Jeffrey T.; Jr, John H. Morrow (2015-09-26). Harlem's Rattlers and the Great War: The Undaunted 369th Regiment and the African American Quest for Equality. University Press of Kansas. p. 524. ISBN 978-0-7006-2138-5.
  15. ^ Henderson, Alexa Benson; Sumler-Edmond, Janice (1999). Freedom's Odyssey: African American History Essays from Phylon. Clark Atlanta University Press. p. 297. ISBN 978-0-9668555-0-0.
  16. ^ "Obituary: George J. Austin". Cincinnati Post. May 21, 1930. p. 17.
  17. ^ "Parade Positions Assigned For Memorial Day Event". The Cincinnati Enquirer. 1938-05-18. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-12-09 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Mary Louise Dodson, Alabama County Marriages, 1818-1936". FamilySearch.org. June 10, 1906.(registration required)
  19. ^ Neely, Ruth (1939). Women of Ohio: A Record of Their Achievements in the History of the State. S. J. Clarke Publishing Company. p. 119.
  20. ^ "Attorney-General names aid; first negro woman chosen". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Cincinnati, OH. January 4, 1937. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "Appointments". Opportunity. Vol. 14–15. National Urban League. 1936. p. 58.
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