A LOOK BACK: KAPPA HISTORY
Earl B. Dickerson's Centennial Celebration
His Remarkable Legacy of Firsts Cememted at the University of Chicago Law School
By Kevin Scott, Grand Historian
I t has become a longstanding tradition to celebrate the birthdays of people we love and respect. It is also a common custom to perform a memorial service for an individual at the time of their death or on the anniversary of their passing in commemora- tion of them. It is less common for us to recognize and reflect on the time between their birthday and passing. That timeframe is colloquially referred to as ‘the dash.’ An excerpt from poet Linda Ellis’ aptly titled poem of the same name states, “…For that dash represents all the time they spent alive on earth and now only those who loved them know what that little line is worth.” When we observe Earl B. Dickerson’s dash, it resembles the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway. It is so expansive that when standing at one end, the other end is not visible. This story is about the formal recognition of a critical point of Dickerson’s life. Particularly during his formative years, a domino effect of circumstances became the cornerstone of his being as a pioneering civil rights advocate. It led him to be affectionately known as The Dean of Chicago’s Black Lawyers. His alma mater, the University of Chicago Law School, recently honored Dickerson with a two-day symposium and commissioned a portrait to celebrate the centen- nial anniversary of his graduation from the lauded institution. Jan Koum superbly stated, “Experiences from our youth shape what we do later in life.” This quote epitomizes how critical events in the life of Earl B. Dickerson guided his actions, decisions, and achieve- ments. During his early life, Dickerson was a victim of and witnessed many incessant and unwarranted acts of gratuitous violence and intimidation of Blacks by whites in his birth town of Canton, Mississippi. Dickerson flourished despite being a product of a segregated public school system that lacked adequate
Portrait of Earl B. Dickerson
books, equipment, and materials. In contrast, his exposure to his cousin’s unflustered college life inspired him to seek education and escape the world that brought him much discontent and distress. In 1906, Dickerson saved money he earned from summer employment to attend a prep school in New Orleans following his elementary school graduation. While there, he found an advocate in one of his teachers who offered to pay his tuition at the University of Chica- go’s Laboratory School. Dickerson’s mother gave a train porter two dollars to have him lend assistance, shielding Dickerson’s efforts to stow away. Dickerson later recalled this time of his life and stated, “I left the desperate life of a Black person in feudal Mississippi. I fled, clothed with little else than a burning sense of outrage and a driving resolve, cradled in the Declaration of Independence, not to be bullied, browbeaten, or held hostage, in fact, or spirit – ever again!” (Blakely, 2006). At some point, the cost of tuition became too much for his bene- factor, and he returned home for a brief period. Undeterred, Dick- erson learned of Northwestern University’s prep school, Evanston Academy. He was subsequently recommended for a scholarship and graduated in 1909. Dickerson was focused on his education to create a better life for himself. While working for the post office, he made the ac- quaintance of professional Black men (doctors, lawyers, etc.) who
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