George Washington Buckner was an African-American physician and diplomat.
Education
He attended a Freedman"s School in Greensburg where he received a basic education. Buckner later moved to Indiana where he was educated as a teacher at Indiana State Normal School (now Indiana State University) in Terre Haute, and as a doctor at the Indiana Eclectic Medical College.
Career
He was United States minister to Liberia from 1913 to 1915. Born into slavery near Greensburg, Kentucky, Buckner was freed at the age of ten. After graduating from normal school, Buckner taught in Vincennes, Washington and Evansville.
She died of tuberculosis in 1889.
Buckner graduated from medical school in 1890 and practiced medicine in Indianapolis for a year before moving to Evansville where he opened a doctor"s office. They had five children.
John West. Boehne, a prominent Evansville Democrat, brought Buckner to the attention of President Woodrow Wilson, who appointed him "minister resident" to the West African nation of Liberia in 1913. Buckner served in the post until 1915, during which time he also served as American Consul General in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia.
He became ill frequently with fever because of the tropical climate and resigned to return to Evansville.
He regularly wrote the "Colored Folks" section of region"s Democratic newsletter urging them to support the party, earning himself the nickname "Elder Statesman of Indiana Blacks". He died at the age of 87 in Evansville and is buried there in Oak Hill Cemetery. A housing project in Evansville, George West. Buckner Towers, is named for him.
Membership
An active member of the Democratic Party, he was often involved with his close friend, Congressman John West. Boehne.