Celebrating 28 Days of Black Excellence. Past and Present: Dr. Thomas H. Brewer, Sr.

Throughout the month of February, The Courier Eco Latino honors Black History Month by spotlighting one local African American leaders or organization—past or present—each day. The series features trailblazers, educators, entrepreneurs, artists, advocates, and unsung heroes whose contributions have helped shape the soul, strength, and future of our community.

These are stories that may not always make headlines, but make a difference every day. From classrooms to boardrooms, from pulpits to protest lines, from small businesses to grassroots movements, each honoree reflects resilience, leadership, and service rooted right here at home.

Dr. Thomas Hency Brewer Sr., a pioneering African American physician and civil rights leader, helped dismantle Georgia’s white primary system and reshape the political landscape of the South before his assassination in 1956.

Born Nov. 19, 1894, in Saco, Alabama, Brewer graduated from Selma University and later earned his medical degree from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. He moved to Columbus in 1920, where he built a respected medical practice and emerged as one of the city’s most prominent advocates for racial equality.

Brewer was a founder and leader of the local NAACP chapter and a vocal spokesman for voting rights. Roy Wilkins of the NAACP once described him as a “fearless champion of the rights of his people.” A committed Republican during an era when many African Americans aligned with the party of Lincoln, Brewer served as a delegate to the GOP National Convention in Philadelphia.

His most consequential civil rights battle came in 1944, when he encouraged and financially supported Primus E. King, a Black registered voter who was turned away from the Democratic primary at the Muscogee County Courthouse. The case, styled King v. Chapman, challenged Georgia’s whites-only primary system. In a landmark ruling, a federal court found in King’s favor, and the U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the decision, effectively ending the state’s exclusion of Black voters from primary elections.

Brewer’s office was located at 1025½ First Ave. On Feb. 18, 1956, he was fatally shot near that site. The shooting followed a dispute with Luico Flowers, a department store owner who had shared office space in the building. The two men reportedly argued after witnessing a police officer beating a Black man outside their building, with Brewer condemning what he viewed as excessive force. Flowers claimed self-defense in the fatal shooting, and a grand jury declined to bring charges. A year later, Flowers was found dead from a gunshot wound authorities ruled a suicide.

Brewer’s assassination sent shockwaves through Columbus’ Black professional and business communities. Approximately 2,500 mourners attended his funeral at First African Baptist Church on Fifth Avenue. In later interviews, Lillian “Bunky” McClung, daughter of Columbus’ first African American mayor, A.J. McClung, recalled that Brewer had motivated many in the community “to want more,” adding that several Black doctors, dentists and business leaders left the city after his death. Brewer’s wife and daughter also relocated, as did other prominent families, including Dr. W.G. McCoo and Dr. Mary McCoo and their children.

Today, a historical marker near the site of his assassination honors Brewer’s legacy, noting his leadership in the NAACP and his central role in securing the right to vote for African Americans in Georgia through the Primus King case.

Nearly seven decades after his death, Brewer remains a defining figure in Columbus’ civil rights history — a physician who used both his profession and his platform to challenge injustice, and whose life and death marked a turning point in the city’s struggle for equality.