Download & Print
January 10, 2023
Today in Texas History
By Bandera Spirits of Texas
On this day in 1894, Charles A. (Doc) Dudley, an African American physician, civic leader, and civil rights worker, was born in Waskom, Texas. He graduated from high school at Marshall and attended Bishop College in Dallas before entering Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee.
After receiving a license to practice medicine in Texas, he assumed the practice of his cousin in Victoria. Dudley supported education for black children and, working with teachers in Victoria, helped furnish equipment not provided by the school board.
In January 1940, he organized a council composed of black citizens that provided improvements for the grounds of F. W. Gross High School. He led the fundraising drive that established the George Washington Carver Civic Council for the recreational and cultural development of black youth. During the struggle for voting rights, he worked closely with NAACP attorney Thurgood Marshall, the future United States Supreme Court associate justice.
Dudley died in 1975. Dudley Elementary School in Victoria is named for him.
After receiving a license to practice medicine in Texas, he assumed the practice of his cousin in Victoria. Dudley supported education for black children and, working with teachers in Victoria, helped furnish equipment not provided by the school board.
In January 1940, he organized a council composed of black citizens that provided improvements for the grounds of F. W. Gross High School. He led the fundraising drive that established the George Washington Carver Civic Council for the recreational and cultural development of black youth. During the struggle for voting rights, he worked closely with NAACP attorney Thurgood Marshall, the future United States Supreme Court associate justice.
Dudley died in 1975. Dudley Elementary School in Victoria is named for him.