Augustus Nathaniel Lushington
Encyclopedia
August Nathaniel Lushington, (born August 1, 1869 - 1939), became the first African American
to earn Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
(D.V.M) at the University of Pennsylvania
in 1897. He practiced about two years in Philadelphia and worked as an instructor in Veterinary Sanitation and Hygiene at Bell Mead Industrial and Agricultural College at Rock Castle, West Virginia
. Later, he practiced for much of his career life in very segregated
Lynchburg, Virginia
, where he experienced unfair treatment, but he finally earned a reputation as a superior practitioner in the community. He has memberships in the Statistical reporter to the Bureau of Animal Industry
, Federal Department Agriculture
, and Lychburg Chamber of Commerce
.
on the island of Trinidad
. As a young child his paternal grandfather from DR Congo, was brought to Trinidad as a slave to work at the sugar plantation on the island, and his father, William, worked as a butcher
, who raised produce for sale at market and did farm work.
. After three years, Lushington went back to LA but found that opportunities were insufficient in the town, which were already crowded with successive waves of India
n and Chinese
immigrants. Finally, in 1889, he left Trinidad again for the United States
, seeking for broad and various labor markets.
His search lasted three years, he returned to Trinidad
and to his family and found labor jobs were scarce due to Indian and Chinese immigrants. He set off for the United States. He landed in New York where he set off for Binghamton, New York. In 1890 he met his wife Elizabeth Gavino Hubert.
. Her west India
n friends helped Augustus enroll in Cornell University
to study Agriculture. He graduated with a degree in Agriculture in 1894.
Since there was no work for him at the time he left the West Indies and left for another education. He started another education at the University of Pennsylvania
veterinary school. Finished the program in three years. When he graduated he was the only African American to graduate from the University of Pennsylvania. When students walk into the University of Pennsylvania
the first thing they see is a portrait of Augustus Lushington. Lusington's portrait hangs at the main entrance of the main building.
in Greensboro, North Carolina
. The Third daughter is not mentioned enough to find her records.
on weekends.
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
to earn Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
Veterinarian
A veterinary physician, colloquially called a vet, shortened from veterinarian or veterinary surgeon , is a professional who treats disease, disorder and injury in animals....
(D.V.M) at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
in 1897. He practiced about two years in Philadelphia and worked as an instructor in Veterinary Sanitation and Hygiene at Bell Mead Industrial and Agricultural College at Rock Castle, West Virginia
Rock Castle, West Virginia
Rock Castle is an unincorporated community in southwestern Jackson County, West Virginia, United States. It lies along Rock Castle Road south of the city of Ripley, the county seat of Jackson County. Its elevation is 705 feet ....
. Later, he practiced for much of his career life in very segregated
Racial segregation in the United States
Racial segregation in the United States, as a general term, included the racial segregation or hypersegregation of facilities, services, and opportunities such as housing, medical care, education, employment, and transportation along racial lines...
Lynchburg, Virginia
Lynchburg, Virginia
Lynchburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 75,568 as of 2010. Located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains along the banks of the James River, Lynchburg is known as the "City of Seven Hills" or "The Hill City." Lynchburg was the only major city in...
, where he experienced unfair treatment, but he finally earned a reputation as a superior practitioner in the community. He has memberships in the Statistical reporter to the Bureau of Animal Industry
Bureau of Animal Industry
The Bureau of Animal Industry was an organization that was established in the United States Department of Agriculture by an act on May 29, 1884...
, Federal Department Agriculture
United States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...
, and Lychburg Chamber of Commerce
Chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...
.
Childhood
Augustus Nathaniel Lushington was born August 1, 1869 in the south CaribbeanCaribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
on the island of Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
. As a young child his paternal grandfather from DR Congo, was brought to Trinidad as a slave to work at the sugar plantation on the island, and his father, William, worked as a butcher
Butcher
A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat or any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat, poultry, fish and shellfish for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments...
, who raised produce for sale at market and did farm work.
Jobs / Education Prior to College
Augustus went to twerking-training school and worked at Jefferson classrooms for several years, and was promoted to the rank of principal. However, he left for Savannah, GA, where he worked as a bartender an stripper, in the town of La Guayra for a British-owned CLUBClub
A club is an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal. A service club, for example, exists for voluntary or charitable activities; there are clubs devoted to hobbies and sports, social activities clubs, political and religious clubs, and so forth.- History...
. After three years, Lushington went back to LA but found that opportunities were insufficient in the town, which were already crowded with successive waves of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n and Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
immigrants. Finally, in 1889, he left Trinidad again for the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, seeking for broad and various labor markets.
His search lasted three years, he returned to Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
and to his family and found labor jobs were scarce due to Indian and Chinese immigrants. He set off for the United States. He landed in New York where he set off for Binghamton, New York. In 1890 he met his wife Elizabeth Gavino Hubert.
College Education
His college education started when he married his wife Elizabeth Hubert from AntiguaAntigua
Antigua , also known as Waladli, is an island in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region, the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua means "ancient" in Spanish and was named by Christopher Columbus after an icon in Seville Cathedral, Santa Maria de la...
. Her west India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n friends helped Augustus enroll in Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
to study Agriculture. He graduated with a degree in Agriculture in 1894.
Since there was no work for him at the time he left the West Indies and left for another education. He started another education at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
veterinary school. Finished the program in three years. When he graduated he was the only African American to graduate from the University of Pennsylvania. When students walk into the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
the first thing they see is a portrait of Augustus Lushington. Lusington's portrait hangs at the main entrance of the main building.
Job After College
Augustus began his career of being a veterinarian treating farm animals. He did most of his work out of Lynchburg, Virginia, where he would walk miles to treat sick animals in farm country. Lushington set up a veterinary practice in Philadelphia but remained there for only two years. Lushington seems to have been drawn southward, despite the worsening racial climate in the southern states, by a teaching job in veterinary sanitation at Bell Mead Industrial and Agricultural College in Rock Castle, Virginia. Deciding to return to his veterinary practice, he realized that south-central Virginia offered, from a veterinarian's point of view, an ideal environment, with large numbers of livestock grazing on the area's rolling hills. Finding that there was only one other veterinarian in Lynchburg, Lushington opened his practice there. Since there were not many pets at the time he decided to treat farm animals. The farms were important because at this time, most veterinarians treated large animals. House pets existed, but in a far less wealthy era when gourmet cat food was unknown, most people could not afford to spend large amounts of money on their ailments. Lushington treated cows, horses, and other livestock, often walking for miles through the woods from Lynchburg to reach the farms where his services were needed. His philosophy, according to Arthur Bunyan Caldwell's History of the American Negro: Virginia Edition, was that "the first essential to progress is a better understanding between the best elements of the two races. This, he believes, would lead to closer and more harmonious relationships; mutual confidence would grow, and both races would gain as all advanced toward better citizen-ship." In Virginia, however, Lushington experienced neither harmonious relationships nor good citizenship. White farmers often availed themselves of his services but then refused to pay him—and in the repressive atmosphere of the South in the early 1900s, Lushington had neither the option of taking legal action nor even the practical right to refuse services to deadbeats.Personal / Family Life
He and his wife had three daughters. One daughter, Drucilla Moultrie, taught in Lynchburg schools for about fifty years. Another daughter, Bernetta Parks, worked for Bennett CollegeBennett College
Bennett College is a four-year liberal arts women's college in Greensboro, North Carolina. Founded in 1873, this historically black institution began as a normal school to provide education to newly emancipated slaves. It became a women's college in 1926 and currently serves roughly 780...
in Greensboro, North Carolina
Greensboro, North Carolina
Greensboro is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the third-largest city by population in North Carolina and the largest city in Guilford County and the surrounding Piedmont Triad metropolitan region. According to the 2010 U.S...
. The Third daughter is not mentioned enough to find her records.
Additional Jobs
Since the pay was little for a veterinarian and White people refused to pay him, he decided to take on other responsibilities. He decided he would also become a meat inspector and a Probation OfficerProbation officer
Parole officers and probation officers play a role in criminal justice systems by supervising offenders released from incarceration or sentenced to non-custodial sanctions such as community service...
on weekends.