August Nathaniel Lushington (born August 1, 1869 - 1939) became the first

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

to earn a

Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded ...

from the

University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine The University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, commonly referred to as Penn Vet, is the veterinary school of the University of Pennsylvania. Penn Vet is one of only two Ivy League veterinary schools in the United States. Establish ...

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 in segregated

Lynchburg, Virginia Lynchburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner and Abolitionism, abolitionist John Lynch (1740–1820), J ...

. He had memberships in the statistical reporter to the

Bureau of Animal Industry President Chester A. Arthur signed the Animal Industry Act23 STAT 31 on May 29, 1884 creating the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), an organization that was established under the United States Department of Agriculture. It replaced the Veterinary ...

, the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and producti ...

, and the Lychburg

Chamber of Commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, 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 a ...

College education

His college education started when he married his wife Elizabeth Hubert from

Antigua Antigua ( ; ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the local population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the most populous island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua ...

. Her west

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n friends helped Augustus enroll in

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

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, he migrated to the United States. He graduated in three years from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

veterinary school. He was the only African American to graduate from the university. His portrait hangs at the main entrance of the Rosenthal building.

References

External links

Augustus Nathaniel Lushington: Veterinarian
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lushington, Augustus Nathaniel 1869 births American veterinarians American people of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent Trinidad and Tobago emigrants to the United States Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences alumni 1939 deaths University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine alumni Emigrants from the British West Indies to the United States