Born enslaved in 1850 in Clarke County, Virginia, George Washington Henderson went to Vermont after the Civil War, possibly with an employer from Vermont he met during the war. He attended Underhill Academy and Barre Academy, graduating in 1873. Henderson then graduated from the University of Vermont in 1877. While a student there, he also served as principal of Jericho Academy. Henderson was the first Black person inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, as well as a member of Delta Psi (St. Anthony Hall).
Henderson received his bachelor of divinity degree from Yale in 1883. At Yale, he received the Hooker Fellowship, which supported his studies at University of Berlin from 1883 to 1884 and at Yale Divinity School from 1884 to 1885. In 1884, Henderson married Hattie Eliza Gage; she died in 1886. They had one child who died in childhood.
From 1888 to 1890, Henderson was pastor of the Central Congregational Church in New Orleans. While there, in 1889, he married Mary Virginia Harris. From 1890 to 1904, Henderson served as chair of the theology department (and possibly as chaplain) at Straight University in New Orleans. In 1894, he was the author of “The First Memorial Against Lynching,” a petition against lynching sent to the Louisiana legislature. Today it is considered one of the first formal appeals against lynching. In 1898, he wrote a pamphlet on troops in the Spanish-American War, focusing on Black regiments.
From 1904 to 1909, Henderon served as dean of theology at Fisk University. From 1909 to 1932, he was professor of Latin, Greek, and ancient literature at Wilberforce University. He received an honorary doctorate of divinity degree from the University of Vermont in 1896. Throughout his life, Henderson was an advocate for civil rights. He died in 1936.
Image citation: Yale Divinity School class composite photographs, Yale Divinity School