From NKAA, Notable Kentucky African Americans Database (main entry)

Haggins, George Washington

(born: 1878 - died: 1949) George Washington Haggins was born November 4, 1878 in Lexington, KY [source: Ancestry. The Kentucky Birth Index has the wrong birth year]. He was the son of Andrew and Luvina Shelton Haggins; it is noted in the 1880 U.S. Census that the family lived in Pralltown.

Haggins had many varied skills, including those displayed in his work as a car washer, horse trainer, boxer, and athletic director. He was living at 419 Perry Street in Dayton, OH when he completed his WWII Draft Registration card April 27, 1942 [source: Ancestry]. It was noted on his registration card that he was 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighed 215 pounds. He had moved to Dayton, OH around 1908 [source: p. 524 in Williams' Dayton Directory for 1908-1909].

During his boxing days, his nickname was "The Human Frog," according to an article in the Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/20/1909, p. 9. The article mentions a boxing match that Haggins had in Cincinnati, OH. Boxing was a side sport for Haggins; his day job was as a janitor in an automobile factory [source: 1910 U.S. Census]. He and his wife Gertrude Haggins lived on Germantown Street in Dayton. The 1920 U.S. Census lists George Haggins working as a teamster for a transfer company. He had been a horse trainer as early as 1913 and up to 1919, and again in 1922 [sources: p. 564 in Williams' Dayton Directory for 1913-14; p. 576 in Williams' Dayton Directory for 1919-1920; and p. 596 in Williams' Dayton Directory for 1922].

Haggins would have many different jobs, and he and his wife lived at various addresses, all of which information can be found in the Dayton city directories. By 1940, George was the athletic director of a boxing facility [sources: 1940 U.S. Census; and p. 581 in Williams' Dayton (Montgomery County, Ohio) City Directory 1940]. Starting with his listing in the 1933 Dayton city directory, his job titles vary from physical instructor to physical director to athletic director.

George W. Haggins died July 25, 1949 and is buried in the Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum in Dayton [source: Find A Grave].