Try and Be Somebody

By Becky Hatcher Crabtree and Merri Jackson Hess

"Try and Be Somebody," a biography of the inspiring life of Dr. Henry Lake Dickason, documents the life of the first president of Bluefield State College, Bluefield, West Virginia, and an early 20th century leader of Black education. Though Dickason’s remarkable achievements have been largely ignored by history, the man comes to life with this narrative.
Dickason was born two decades after the end of the Civil War and grew up in a log cabin on Peters Mountain near Lindside, West Virginia. He learned about slavery from his grandparents on both sides of the family. All four were slaves, his father’s parents on the farm where Dr. Dickason grew up and his mother’s parents on a farm at Gap Mills, West Virginia. The life of Henry Lake vividly portrays the lives of the rural Black community of the time. The reader can hear the swing of the cabin door, smell the dinner cooking, and feel hope and sorrows of the family as they live out their lives on Peters Mountain in West Virginia.
Young Henry Lake learned about the oppression of segregation, especially the limited opportunity for black children to get an education, from the struggles of his own life. But he recognized early that education was the key to a decent and successful life. Dickason’s thirst for knowledge led him on a transformative journey against formidable odds from a rural agricultural community to an academic world, first at Bluefield Colored Institute, a boarding high school, then to Columbus, Ohio, earning degrees at Ohio State University and becoming the national president of a then fledgling black fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha. He was awarded two doctorates later, one in a ceremony in which Eleanor Roosevelt gave the commencement address.
Dickason’s career in education began at Bluefield Colored Institute in 1914 and was part of the evolution of the school through several roles as it became an accredited college in 1949. His fight to maintain the college and its facilities and to expand the campus to include new areas of study spanned nearly forty years. After retirement there, he accepted the presidency of Morristown College in Tennessee and worked to lead the school until his death in 1957.
He rose quietly above racial inequities and personal tragedies to hold the door open for others to have better opportunities. He became a driving force in racial pride and in ensuring that education was available for all those in southern West Virginia who desired to learn.
Dickason’s character has such presence that the reader will make the journey with him, rooting for him and inspired by him the whole way. From his own challenges and successes to the roles he plays in the lives of others, Dr. Dickason lives on these pages. His life, guided by his father’s words, “Try and be somebody,” inspires us all.
Many illustrations, an appendix, and multiple indexes supplement the story.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fathom Publishing
• Release date: Jan 20, 2024
• ISBN: 9781888215328

Becky Hatcher Crabtree

West Virginia educator and author Becky Hatcher Crabtree enjoys rural life on her beloved Peters Mountain in Monroe County, West Virginia. Her life experiences influence her writing, especially this year as eminent domain was used to take part of her farm for a gas pipeline. In this story, her main character, Stella, faced some of those same issues. In actuality, Becky sat chained to a 1971 Pinto, her first car, across the pipeline path in a short-lived attempt to slow construction. She notes that Stella may have handled the problem with more sense.Crabtree taught and coached in remote Alaska villages where she experienced Arctic cultures and activities prior to retiring to rural West Virginia.

Book preview

Bluefield State College Library. Becky Crabtree

Raeburn Hall Dickason. A Glimpse into Lindside Area Schools: Monroe County, West Virginia, Monnie Raines Martin and Nedra Pendleton Shaver

Swinton’s Third Reader. Becky Crabtree

Dickason Chapel. Becky Crabtree

Homecoming images. Black Diamonds, a booklet published by John Henry Memorial Foundation, Princeton WV, about 1960. Photo and identification courtesy of Mary Ross

Mariah and Elijah Dunlap’s farmhouse. Becky Crabtree

The AME Church at Gap Mills. Becky Crabtree

Hattie Dickason tombstone. Becky Crabtree

Nancy Jane Pack Dickason tombstone. Becky Crabtree

1883 Monroe County, West Virginia map. A Glimpse Into the Past compiled by Monnie Raines Martin and Nedra Pendleton Shaver

William Ross. Bluefield State College Archives

Hugh and Laura Dickason with children. A Glimpse into Lindside Area Schools: Monroe County, West Virginia, Monnie Raines Martin and Nedra Pendleton Shaver

H. L. Dickason. Bluefield State College Archives

H. L. Dickason Letter to Mariah Dunlap. The Monroe Watchman, Union, WV, and Ms. Justine Nall, of Union, WV.

Early Seal of The Ohio State University. Courtesy of The Ohio State University

View from Cismont’s front porch in 2016. Becky Crabtree

1918 Bluefield Colored Institute Faculty. Bluefield State College Archives

1914 Bluefield Colored Institute Football Team. Bluefield State College Archives

Grace E. Robinson Dickason tombstone. Margaret Christian

Dr. D. F. Delbert Dunlap, Chemistry, 1945. Bluefield State College Archives.

1922 Bluefield Colored Institute Faculty. Bluefield State College Archives

Bernard Dickason tombstone. Becky Crabtree

Raburn Sidney Dickason tombstone. Becky Crabtree

Lawn view of Conley Hall. Bluefield State College Archives

BSC Football 1927 National Champions. Bluefield State College Archives

Guy R. Dickason tombstone. Becky Crabtree

Flossie Mack Dickason and Henry Lake Dickason. Patricia Dickason

Typical sign during segregation days in America. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA/OWI Collection, LC-USW3- 037939-E

Faculty and students posing for a themed Dutch Day. Bluefield State College Centennial History (1895-1995) by C. Stuart McGehee and Frank Wilson

Fannie Ross Dickason tombstone. Becky Crabtree

Cismont, Dickason home at the base of Peters Mountain, Monroe County, WV. Merilyn Fleshman

Inauguration Program for Dr. Dickason’s first college presidency. Bluefield State College Archives

Conley Hall, Bluefield State College. Bluefield State College Archives

Henry Lake Dickason at the podium. Bluefield State College Archives

Dr. Henry Lake Dickason speaking from a church pulpit

H. L. Dickason in 1937. Bluefield State College Archives

Robert Andrew Dickason’s first day in Bluefield, Patricia Dickason

Barber Pole. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, photograph by John Margolies, [reproduction number, e.g., LC-MA05-1]

Bluefield State College Seal, Bluefield State College Centennial History (1895-1995) by C. Stuart McGehee and Frank Wilson

1940s classroom. Bluefield State College Archives

Dickason Hall, Bluefield State College. Bluefield State College Archives

1940s Bluefield State Teachers College faculty group. Bluefield State College Centennial History (1895-1995) by C. Stuart McGehee and Frank Wilson

William Robertson and President Ronald Reagan. Jim Nelson

Dr. William Robertson with H. L. Dickason’s oil portrait. Jim Nelson

Bluefield State College Library foyer. Becky Crabtree

Presentation to H. L. Dickason. Bluefield State College Archives

Robert A. Dickason in 1957, Patricia Dickason

H. L. Dickason funeral. Bluefield State College Archives

Robert and Patricia Dickason in 1976 and Robert Dickason in 2000. Patricia Dickason

Jacob Dickason will, June 22, 1875. Monroe Co. Wills, Book 11

Fannie Ross and Guy R. Dickason marriage certificate. Monroe County, WV Courthouse

H. L. Dickason’s 1917 draft registration card. The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Atlanta, GA

H. L. Dickason letter to Mariah Dunlap. The Monroe Watchman, Union, WV, and Ms. Justine Nall, of Union, June 18, 2015

H. L. Dickason’s WWII Draft card. Ancestry.com

Association of Social Science Teachers in Negro Colleges. Bluefield State College Archives

H. L. Dickason certificate of death. Tennessee Office of Vital Records

H. L. Dickason tombstone. Becky Crabtree

Dixie Hill Cemetery. Becky Crabtree

Mariah J. Ross Dunlap grave. Becky Crabtree

Delbert F. Dunlap grave stone. Becky Crabtree

Elijah Dunlap grave. Becky Crabtree

Key Dates

1827 Raeburn Hall Dickason born

1883 Mary Fannie Ross Dickason married Guy R. Dickason

1885 Hattie M. Dickason born

1886 Henry Lake Dickason born

Delbert Fleshman Dunlap born

1895 Raburn Sidney Dickason born

Hattie M. Dickason died

1896 Bluefield Colored Institute opened

1899 Bernard French Dickason born

1903 Henry Lake Dickason goes to Bluefield Colored Institute

1905 W.E.B. Du Bois Men of Niagara speech

1905-6 Booker T. Washington raised funds to finance Tuskegee Institute

1906 Henry Lake Dickason graduated from Bluefield Colored Institute

1907 Raeburn Hall Dickason dies

1910 Henry Lake Dickason graduated from Bluefield Colored Institute Normal School

1913 Henry Lake Dickason graduated from The Ohio State University B.A.

Henry Lake Dickason elected General Secretary of National Alpha Phi Alpha

1914 Henry Lake Dickason graduated from The Ohio State University M.A.

Henry Lake Dickason and Grace Ethel Robinson marry

Henry Lake Dickason’s first year teaching at Bluefield Colored Institute

Henry Lake Dickason elected General President of National Alpha Phi Alpha

1915 Henry Lake Dickason, Jr. born and died

1917 Delbert Fleshman Dunlap starts teaching at Bluefield Colored Institute

1918 End of World War I

1919 Grace E. Robinson Dickason died

1923 Henry Lake Dickason promoted to vice-principal of Bluefield Colored Institute

Bernard French Dickason admitted to sanitarium

Bernard French Dickason died

1926 W. E. B. Du Bois addressed Bluefield Colored Institute graduating class

Raburn Sidney Dickason died

1929 Guy R. Dickason died

1931 Henry Lake Dickason became Dean Dickason

Bluefield Colored Institute name changed to Bluefield State Teachers College

1932 Alpha Phi Alpha in 1932, the first fraternity organized at Bluefield State

Henry Lake Dickason and Flossie Mack married

1933 Mary Fannie Ross Dickason died

1935 Robert Andrew Dickason born

1936 Dr. Robert P. Sims demoted to business manager at Bluefield Colored Institute

Henry Lake Dickason appointed acting president of Bluefield Colored Institute by the State Board of Education

1937 Bluefield Colored Institute campus fire

1938 Arter Hall and new gymnasium completed at Bluefield Colored Institute

Henry Lake Dickason became Appointed President of Bluefield Colored Institute

Henry Lake Dickason traveled to New Orleans and spoke at Alpha Phi Alpha convention

1939-45 World War II

1940 Library Wing added to Conley Hall, Mahood Hall, Payne Hall, and faculty housing built on BSC campus

1940-51 Henry Lake Dickason served on the Bluefield City’s Draft Board

1941-43 Robert Andrew Dickason placed with and then adopted by Henry Lake and Flossie Dickason

1942 Henry Lake Dickason awarded honorary Doctorate of Pedagogy, Virginia State College

1943 Bluefield Colored Institute name changed to Bluefield State College

1945 Bluefield State College 50th anniversary

1948 Henry Lake Dickason awarded West Virginia State College, Doctor of Literary Law

1949 Bluefield State College met the requirements of the North Central Association and granted full accreditation

1950 Technical Education Building added to BSC campus, later called Dickason Hall

1952 Henry Lake Dickason retired from Bluefield State College

1953 Henry Lake Dickason appointed to serve on the board of the Greenbrier- Monroe County Tuberculosis and Health Association

Henry Lake Dickason went to Morristown College in Morristown, Tennessee

1957 Henry Lake Dickason died

1958 Delbert Fleshman Dunlap died

1978 Flossie Mack Dickason died

2016 West Virginia Historical Marker for Henry Lake Dickason installed

2019 Bluefield State College Library renamed for William Benard Robertson

In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.

—Albert Schweitzer

Acknowledgments

First, I must thank my dearest friend, Merri Jackson Hess, for sharing the obsession of Henry Lake Dickason with me over the last two years. We’ve traveled to places important to telling the story of Dr. Dickason’s life and spent hours on the phone choosing words and digesting ideas about the era in which he lived.

My teacher and editor, Jay St. Vincent, never wavered in her support of this story. Her mantra was, Keep writing. It is important. She didn’t waver in her support of proper grammar and punctuation, either. As is true about my other writings, this wouldn’t’ve (Is that a word?!) happened without her.

Connie Taylor, at Fathom Publishing, makes book publishing much easier and faster than it could be and does it with kindness.

Many were gracious in their encouragement and willingness to discuss with me their first-hand experiences with Dr. Dickason, especially Mr. Ergie Smith, Mrs. Mary B. Ross, and Mrs. Merilyn Booth Fleshman. Mrs. Dorothy M. Craft filled in colorful details of long-ago life at the school. Mrs. Joyce Perry explained away my confusion about Bluefield Hardware and Bluefield Supply. Janet Jackson helped me find the AME Church in Gap Mills.

Dr. William Robertson added his life-changing encounter with Dr. Dickason, and in doing so, told a great deal about both men.

Mr. William Broyles spoke to Dr. Dickason as a child and formed an opinion so respectful that he remembered it for seventy years. He was also a neighbor of Flossie Dickason after Dr. Dickason’s death and told leg-slapping stories about her managing the farm. He owns the property containing the Dickason Family Cemetery and has been more than generous allowing me to visit it. Cynthia Morris, his daughter and her husband Sterl, took us up on the mountain to locate the cemetery where fascination set in.

Mrs. Bobbie Jean Spangler Comer told impressive tales from her childhood meetings of Dr. Dickason.

The members of the Bluefield State College Alumni Association, led by Deidre Guyton, were generous in sharing knowledge and encouragement. The president of Bluefield State, Dr. Marsha V. Krotseng, was also gracious in allowing us to use images and text from the school’s centennial yearbook.

Monnie Raines Martin and Nedra Pendleton Shaver, co-authors of A Glimpse into Lindside Area Schools: Monroe County, West Virginia, provided well-researched historical materials for this book. Local historians Alice Bradley, Susie Wickline, Sarah Shires, Betty Spangler, and Sam Shires told me stories of the Lindside Dickasons that found their way into this biography.

Dr. Craig Mohler allowed use of priceless glimmers of history found only in our long-running weekly newspaper, The Monroe Watchman of Union, West Virginia.

Mr. James Leedy at the Bluefield State College Archives worked overtime to find images and text for this project. He is a jewel of a gentleman.

Vanni Prichard edited with a careful eye and found mistakes I had missed a dozen times. Her work made this story better.

The Peters Mountain DAR sponsored a historic marker to honor Dr. Dickason that provided a springboard of knowledge to start writing. Thank you to my DAR friends, especially Faye Ramsey.

Roger Crabtree put up with quite a bit as I pounded my pillow and stared at the computer screen and walked in the woods listening for Dr. Dickason’s voice. As always, he had enough patience and sanity to replenish mine.