George Washington Buckner

George Washington Buckner (December 1, 1855 – February 17, 1943) was an American physician and diplomat. He was United States Minister to Liberia from 1913 to 1915.

Life

Born into enslavement near Greensburg, Kentucky, Buckner was freed at the age of ten. He attended a Freedman's School in Greensburg, where he received a basic education. In 1870, he moved to live with his aunt in Louisville, and worked there briefly as a household servant before moving back to Green County in 1871 to be a teacher. Buckner later moved to Indiana, where he was educated as a teacher at Indiana State Normal School in Terre Haute, and as a doctor at the Indiana Eclectic Medical College.

After graduating from normal school, Buckner taught in Vincennes, Washington and Evansville. She died of tuberculosis in 1889. The couple had five children. John W. Boehne, a prominent Evansville Democrat, brought Buckner to the attention of President Woodrow Wilson, who appointed him Minister Resident to 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 frequently became ill with fever because of the tropical climate and he resigned himself to returning to Evansville.

Buckner died in 1943 at the age of 87 in Evansville, where he was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery.

Legacy His son, Zach Buckner, donated much of his father's memorabilia to the Evansville Museum, where it is on display in an exhibit. A housing project in Evansville, George W. Buckner Towers, is named for him.

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