Dr. Henry Lake Dickason (September 9, 1886 – April 6, 1957) was the president of

Bluefield State College Bluefield State University (Bluefield State) is a university in Bluefield, West Virginia that is an historically black university. It is a part of West Virginia's public education system and converted to a university in the summer of 2022. It ad ...

in West Virginia from 1936 to 1952 and

Morristown College Morristown College was an African American higher education institution located in Morristown, the seat of Hamblen County, Tennessee. It was founded in 1881 by the national Freedman's Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The school was ...

in Tennessee from 1953 to 1957.

Family and early life

Henry Lake Dickason was born near

Lindside, West Virginia Lindside is an unincorporated community in Monroe County, West Virginia, United States. Lindside is located on U.S. Route 219, northeast of Peterstown. Lindside has a post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that pro ...

on September 9, 1886. He was the second of three children born to Guy and Fannie Dickason. His paternal grandparents, Raeburn and Nancy Jane Dickason, had been slaves to Jacob Dickason. When Jacob Dickason died, he left all his worldly possessions, including land, to the Dickasons. Jacob Dickason will dated June 22, 1875, Monroe Co. Wills, Book 11, page 537. Dickason attended Chestnut Grove School for his early schooling. He began attending high school at Bluefield Colored Institute (BCI) in Bluefield, West Virginia, in 1903. While there, he worked at Bluefield Hardware. Dickason graduated in 1906.

Higher education

Bluefield Colored Institute formed a "normal school" to train teachers to meet the needs of the many segregated schools. Dickason started the teaching course in 1907 and then applied to

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

and was accepted. He graduated in 1913 with a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and earned his Master of Arts in Math and Physics the following year. He was elected the General President of

Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate historically African American fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the 1905–1906 school year at Cornell University but later evolved int ...

, the first African-American Greek-lettered fraternity.

Early teaching career and family life

After graduating, Dickason returned to Bluefield Colored Institute (BCI) to begin his teaching career. He taught mathematics, assistant coached the football team and led several school organizations. On August 26, 1914, Dickason married Grace Robinson. They both continued teaching at BCI. Grace died on December 27, 1919. Dickason became vice-principal of the BCI by 1923.

Bluefield State Teacher’s College Dean

In 1931, the name of the school was changed to Bluefield State Teacher's College, the high school program was discontinued, and Dickason was appointed dean. In 1932, Dickason married Flossie Mack, another teacher at Bluefield.

Bluefield State Teacher’s College President

In 1936, at the age of 49, Dickason was appointed acting president of Bluefield State Teacher's College. Within months of his appointment, a devastating fire destroyed Mahood Hall, the main building on campus, on April 23, 1937. The gymnasium, auditorium, library, administrative records, classrooms, and chemistry lab were all lost. The damage was estimated at $150,000. By 1938, a new gymnasium and 700-seat auditorium named Arter Hall was completed. In 1938, Dickason was inaugurated as the appointed President of Bluefield State Teachers’ College. Dickason led the college as a new wing was added to Conley Hall to house a new library, a new women's dorm, and a men's dorm were built, faculty houses were built and the land was acquired to eventually build a new Technical Education building. Dickason received a U.S. government appointment as a consultant in the National Youth Administration. Dickason chartered the Pi chapter in 1914 as the fifteenth chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha. It was the first Black Greek Letter organization in Cleveland, Ohio. He served as National General Secretary and General President of Alpha Phi Alpha. In 1941, the Dickasons adopted five-year-old Robert Andrew Dickason.

Bluefield State College President

In 1943, Bluefield State Teachers’ College was renamed Bluefield State College. Its expanding curriculum now included nursing classes, partly as a result of World War II and the need for nurses in the military. In 1949, Dickason guided Bluefield State College to meet the requirements of the

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools The North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA), also known as the North Central Association, was a membership organization, consisting of colleges, universities, and schools in 19 U.S. states engaged in educational accreditation. It w ...

and be granted full accreditation. A new Division of Vocational Training was added and included courses in carpentry, plumbing, sheet metal, auto repair, and others. Dickason oversaw the construction of a building to house this new Division. The Technical Education Building was later renamed Dickason Hall. In 1952, at the age of 65, Dickason retired. His tenure at Bluefield spanned 38 years.

Morristown College President

Within that first year of his retirement, Dickason was asked to serve as President of

in Tennessee, a

historically black college Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. Mo ...

. He moved there in 1953 and began his tenure as President of Morristown College.

Death

In March 1957, he was hospitalized with chest pains. He died on April 6, 1957, at the age of 70.

Honors

Dickason was awarded two honorary doctorates: a Doctorate of Pedagogy from

Virginia State College Virginia State University (VSU or Virginia State) is a public historically Black land-grant university in Ettrick, Virginia. Founded on , Virginia State developed as the United States's first fully state-supported four-year institution of high ...

in 1942, and a Doctorate of Literary Law from

West Virginia State College West Virginia State University (WVSU) is a public historically black, land-grant university in Institute, West Virginia. Founded in 1891 as the West Virginia Colored Institute, it is one of the original 19 land-grant colleges and universities ...

in 1948. In 1959, the Technical Science Building at Bluefield State College, constructed under Dickason's Presidency, was designated the H.L. Dickason Hall. The Peters Mountain Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution honored Dr. Dickason on June 1, 2015, when a marker was unveiled in Lindside, VA in his memory.Bluefield Daily Telegraph, https://www.bdtonline.com/news/peters-mountain-chapter-of-dar-honors-dr-henry-l-dickason/article_12054b08-080b-11e5-9818-238e5e38d7c6.html

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dickason, Henry Lake 1886 births 1957 deaths