LOCAL Houston | The City Guide October 2017 | Page 61

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Benjamin Jesse Covington, an African American physician in Houston, was born
in 1869 near Marlin, Texas, the son of Ben and Georgiana Covington, former
slaves. As a young man Benjamin worked on a farm and attended school near
Marlin. Around 1885 he entered Hearne Baptist Academy, where he supported
THE STORY OF HOUSTON
himself as janitor and bell ringer. After graduating in 1892 he taught school but
encountered hostility from some members of the white community who thought
his salary was too high for a Negro. Following a stint as a bookkeeper he
BENJAMIN JESSE COVINGTON entered Meharry Medical College, a Black medical school in Nashville, in
By John S. Gray III lives of African Americans, a theme that would remain central to Covington’s
Images courtesy of Houston History Alliance
1895. Meharry was founded on a spirit of kindness and a desire improve the
life.
While still in medical school, Covington spent several months practicing medi-
cine in Wharton, Texas, on a temporary permit. After graduating from Meharry
in 1900, he moved to Yoakum, where other doctors received him more favor-
ably. In 1903 Covington moved to Houston with his wife, Jennie Belle Murphy
Covington, whom he had married the year before. Dr. Covington practiced
general medicine in Houston for 58 years and is best known as one of the
five physicians who helped establish Houston Negro Hospital (now Riverside
General Hospital) in 1925. His formula for the treatment of influenza, which
he considered a form of yellow fever, was very successful and was used by
United States medical officers. He was active in the push for improved public
facilities and public health conditions and helped reorganize the Lone Star State
Medical, Dental and Pharmaceutical Association, a professional association of
black physicians. Over the course of his career Covington took 51 post-grad-
uate “refresher and modernization” courses at Prairie View, Tuskegee, Flint-
Mr. and Mrs. Covington with singer Marian Anderson.
Goodridge (New Orleans) and the Mayo Clinic.
Covington’s wife Jennie was a trailblazer in her own right, cofounding the
Houston Commission on Interracial Cooperation and assisting at the Jefferson
Davis Hospital and the Houston Negro Hospital. The Covingtons were members
of Antioch Baptist Church, where Benjamin accompanied the choir on his violin.
He also taught himself to play the piano, mandolin and cornet.
During World War II Benjamin Covington received citations from presidents
Reprinted from the Texas State Historical
Association’s Handbook of Houston, a
project in cooperation with the Houston
History Alliance. For more information,
visit www.HoustonHistoryAlliance.org.
Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman commending him for his services to the
Selective Service System. The Masonic lodge established a medical college
scholarship in his honor. Covington died on July 21, 1961, and was buried
in Paradise Cemetery (North). Jennie passed away five years later. In 1990
their daughter and grandchildren dedicated electronic chimes at Antioch Baptist
Church in their honor. In 1994 a Texas historical marker was placed at the site
of the Covington home at 2219 Dowling Street (now Emancipation Avenue).
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