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George Godfrey photograph : [ca. 1890 ?]
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George Godfrey photograph : [ca. 1890 ?]

  • CA PCA Acc4249
  • Collection
  • [ca. 1890 ?]

The collection consists of one photograph of George Godfrey, ca. 1890[?] taken from an unidentified publication.

George "Old Chocolate" Godfrey was born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, in 1852, the son of William Godfrey and Sarah Byers. He migrated to Boston about 1870, trained as a boxer, and in 1879 won a local competition which marked the beginning of a lengthy professional career as a prizefighter. By 1883 he had eliminated all challengers to the title of American black heavyweight champion. Undefeated until 1888, he continued to fight until 1895 when he turned to teaching and ran a boxing school at Scollay Square in Boston. He died of tuberculosis on 17 October 1901.

Unknown