George James Austin Sr. (c. 1881 – August 19, 1930), was an American military officer, educator, and insurance salesman.^[1] He was a Black military officer in the United States, who served in the Spanish-American War and World War I. He worked for Black representation in the U.S. military during a time of racial segregation. Austin served on-campus as a military educator at historically Black colleges, including Prairie View College (now Prairie View A&M University), Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University), and St. Paul Normal and Industrial School (now Saint Paul's College).

George James Austin was born in 1881^[2] or 1887 in Cincinnati, Ohio, to parents Jane and Robert Austin.^{[citation needed]} His father Robert was one of the earliest Black residents in the city of Cincinnati.^[3]

He trained at Fort Des Moines Provisional Army Officer Training School, and attended Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University).^{[when?][4][5]}

Austin served in the volunteer army during the Spanish-American War.^[1][6] He also served in the United States Army in World War I from 1917 to 1919.^[7] He was in the 92nd Infantry Division (and 317th Engineer Regiment).^[7][8] Austin attained the military rank of major.^[3]

In 1912, Austin was commandant (similar to modern-day ROTC commandant) at Prairie View College (now Prairie View A&M University).^[9] He also served as a commandant at Tuskegee Institute;^{[when?][10][11]} and as the commodore of cadets at St. Paul Normal and Industrial School (now Saint Paul's College) in Lawrenceville, Virginia, where he followed the "colored regiment campaign".^{[when?][12][13]}

He noted around 1917, that Blacks were prohibited from attending the fourteen officer training camps on the United States.^[13] In 1917, Austin corresponded with civil rights activist Joel Elias Spingarn.^[14] He wrote general Leonard Wood about a segregated summer camp for college students.^[15]

Austin eventually moved to Cincinnati and entered the insurance business.^[10] He died on August 19, 1930 at St. Mary's Hospital in Cincinnati.^[16]

Posthumously Austin was honored at the Cincinnati Memorial Day Parade in 1938.^[17]

Austin married Mary Louise Dotson in 1906.^[18] They had a few children together. Austin's father in-law (and Mary Louise's father) was Alabama politician, Mentor Dotson.^[19]

Austin was the father of Helen Elsie Austin, an attorney and Baháʼí faith leader.^[20] Elsie Austin was another of his daughters, she was the first black female graduate of Cincinnati Law School (now University of Cincinnati College of Law) in the 1920s.^[21]