Dr. George Washington Coffey

Dr. Coffey was an early African American physician in Gadsden, Alabama. Born in Florence, Alabama in 1872 as the son of formerly enslaved parents, he defied society’s expectations through seeking higher education and then uplifting his community.

 

Howard University nurtured his growth in scientific knowledge as well as instilling him with confidence. Denver, Colorado, where he lived from 1904 to 1906, fostered his sense of pride as an African American man. From 1910 until his death in 1952, he served the people of Gadsden as a physician.

 

Evidence shows him weaving the lessons from Howard and Denver into his Alabama community in various community activities that lay groundwork for the later Civil Rights Movement. An analysis of primary records and other sources uncovers his storied life, threaded with perseverance amidst segregation and racism to carve his own path.

 

In his own words of wisdom, he says:

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 “Be yourself, be real, be what you will or may, but first of all be yourself and the world will like you better for it,” (Coffey, 1905).