- Collection:
- New Georgia Encyclopedia
- Title:
- Thomas Brewer (1894-1956)
- Creator:
- Lloyd, Craig
- Date of Original:
- 2007-08-03
- Subject:
- Meharry Medical College
Social-Civic-25 Club (Columbus, Ga.)
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Columbus Chapter (Columbus, Ga.)
Civil rights--Georgia--Columbus
African Americans--Civil rights--Georgia--Columbus
African American physicians--Georgia--Columbus
Race relations
Columbus (Ga.)--Race relations--History--20th century
School integration--Georgia--Columbus
Segregation in education--Georgia--Columbus
Discrimination--Georgia--Columbus
Discrimination in public accommodations--Georgia--Columbus
Racial discrimination--Georgia--Columbus
Racism--Georgia--Columbus
Voter registration--Georgia--Columbus
Voting--Georgia--Columbus
Primaries--Georgia
Police--Georgia--Columbus
Police brutality--Georgia--Columbus
African American police--Georgia--Columbus
Death threats--Georgia--Columbus
African American men--Georgia--Columbus
African American men--Death
African American men--Violence against--Georgia--Columbus
Men--Violence against--Georgia--Columbus
Shooting (Execution)--Georgia--Columbus
Gunshot wounds--Georgia--Columbus
Firearms--Georgia--Columbus
Assassination--Georgia--Columbus
Homicide--Georgia--Columbus
Murder--Georgia--Columbus
Criminal investigation--Georgia--Columbus
Violent deaths--Georgia--Columbus
Violence--Georgia--Columbus
Self-defense (Law)--Georgia--Columbus
Grand jury--Georgia--Columbus - People:
- Brewer, Thomas Hency, 1894-1956
Brewer, Thomas Hency, 1894-1956--Assassination
Brewer, Thomas Hency, 1894-1956--Death and burial
King, Primus E., 1900-1986--Trials, litigation, etc. - Location:
- United States, Alabama, Dallas County, 32.32597, -87.10648
United States, Alabama, Dallas County, Selma, 32.40736, -87.0211
United States, Alabama, Pike County, Saco, 31.95515, -85.82078
United States, Georgia, Muscogee County, Columbus, 32.46098, -84.98771
United States, Tennessee, Davidson County, Nashville, 36.16589, -86.78444 - Medium:
- articles
- Type:
- Text
- Format:
- text/html
- Description:
- Encyclopedia article about Thomas Brewer, an African American physician, who was a leader in the drive for racial equality in Columbus from the 1920s until his assassination on February 18, 1956, which was widely believed to have resulted from his political activism. Brewer, whose death had considerable impact on local race relations, is recognized as a martyr of the national civil rights movement. Born in Saco, Alabama, he attended high school and college in Selma before earning his medical degree from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1920 he joined a thriving black medical community in Columbus, Georgia. He was instrumental in founding a black professional men's service and civic club, Social-Civic-25 Club, in Columbus as well as a local chapter of the NAACP.He led the attack on the all-white primary system in the state of Georgia which resulted in the winning federal court case, King v. Chapman et al., in 1945 and 1946, and he worked for black voter registration, the hiring of black police officers in Columbus, and racial integration of both the public schools, following the Brown v. Board of Education decision in May 1954, and other public facilities.Brewer received death threats as early as the late 1940s and was shot and killed in 1956. Luico Flowers claimed to have shot Brewer in self-defense and his story was accepted by police and a grand jury.
The Civil Rights Digital Library received support from a National Leadership Grant for Libraries awarded to the University of Georgia by the Institute of Museum and Library Services for the aggregation and enhancement of partner metadata.
GSE identifier: SS8H11 - Metadata URL:
- https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/thomas-brewer-1894-1956/
- Language:
- eng
- Additional Rights Information:
- If you wish to use content from the NGE site for commercial use, publication, or any purpose other than fair use as defined by law, you must request and receive written permission from the NGE. Such requests may be directed to: Permissions/NGE, University of Georgia Press, 330 Research Drive, Athens, GA 30602.
- Bibliographic Citation (Cite As):
- Cite as: "[article name]," New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved [date]: http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org.
- Original Collection:
- Forms part of the New Georgia Encyclopedia.
- Contributing Institution:
- New Georgia Encyclopedia (Project)
- Rights:
-
