Dr. Benjamin Jesse Covington and the Covington House
Houston, Harris County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Dr. Benjamin Jesse Covington (c. 1871-1961), his wife Jennie Belle Murphy (1881-1966), and the stately home they built here in 1911 represented a level of achievement, dignity, and civic service matched by few African Americans in Houston during the first half of the 20th century. Born and reared on a farm in Falls County, Texas, Dr. Covington exhibited surgical skills on farm animals at an early age. He later attended Hearne Academy and Meharry Medical College to become a surgeon. After graduating in 1900 he began his medical practice in Wharton, Texas. He married Gonzales native Jennie Belle Murphy in 1902, and in 1903 they moved to Houston where Dr. Covington practiced medicine for 58 years. Dr. Covington, president of the Lone Star Medical Association in 1920, co-founded the Houston Negro Hospital in 1925. Mrs. Covington co-founded the Blue Triangle Branch, Y. W. C. A., and served as chair of the Texas State Commission on Race Relations. The Covingtons were active members of Antioch Baptist Church. During a period when local hotels were segregated, the Covingtons' home (razed in 1978) served as Houston's unofficial guest quarters for many prominent African American visitors including Booker T. Washington and eminent artists Marian Anderson and Roland Hayes. (1994)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Born on a Falls County farm around 1871, Benjamin Jesse Covington trained at Meharry Medical College and, with his wife Jennie Belle Murphy, moved to Houston in 1903, where he practiced medicine for 58 years and co-founded the Houston Negro Hospital. In an era of rigid segregation, the stately home the couple built in 1911 became the city's unofficial guest quarters for distinguished Black visitors—among them Booker T. Washington and singers Marian Anderson and Roland Hayes. Both Covingtons led civic and medical organizations that served Houston's African American community.
Why it matters
The Covington home stands for the achievement and quiet resistance of a Black professional class that built its own institutions and hospitality when white America shut its doors.
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Related people
- · Benjamin Jesse Covington
- · Jennie Belle Murphy
- · Booker T. Washington
- · Marian Anderson
- · Roland Hayes
Themes & tags
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