42:, which marked the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States. As a free man, Dickson left Cleveland County and set out for the mountains of western North Carolina, perhaps seeking business opportunity. He carried with him a letter of recommendation signed by six white Cleveland County residents, including his uncle, A.G. Peeler, and aunt, Elizabeth Dickson. After living in the town of
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Beyond encouraging support for public education by black
Asheville residents and serving on the school board, Dickson made his passion for education of African Americans clear in a myriad of other ways. Before his election to the school board Dickson served as a "domestic" on the staff of Asheville's
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Dickson also played an important role in
Asheville's African American community center where Eagle and Valley streets meet that came to be known as The Block. There he owned a grocery, coal yard and taxi service. Overall, Dickson was well known throughout the Asheville community as an active and
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Dickson was a critical force in rallying
African American voters to the polls when Asheville residents voted to create a public school system in 1887. The referendum passed by only two votes. In a show of support and gratitude for his efforts voters appointed Dickson to the Asheville City School
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Board, the first person of color to hold such a position in
Asheville. Later, in 1892, Dickson played a key role in the founding of the Young Men's Institute, one of the first African American cultural centers of its kind in the country.
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After he moved to
Asheville, Dickson became involved in many civic and religious institutions. His home church was Trinity Chapel, which eventually became St. Matthias Episcopal Church.
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Today, in honor of
Dickson's contributions to African American education and the public school system in Asheville, one of Asheville's six public elementary schools is named for him.
93:, another early organizer of the YMI was the first principal. Dickson's daughter became a teacher, and he made repeated gifts to North Carolina A&M College in Greensboro, now
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for a short time, Dickson married his wife, Cordelia Reed, and they soon removed to
Asheville where Dickson became involved in civic and religious organizations like the
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along with his wife. He also took residence on the school's campus, living in a small frame building with another family during his time there.
22:(c.1840 - d.1919) was an American civic and community leader, and champion of African American education, primarily in his adopted community of
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While
Dickson was on the school board the first black school was built, what would become the iconic Catholic Hill School,
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upstanding citizen, one newspaper article citing him as the first person to pay his special boarding house tax.
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Ravenscroft School in
Asheville : a History of the Institution and Its People and Buildings
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Dickson was born to an enslaved mother and a slave-owning father in
134:"Up from slavery: Isaac Dickson, Asheville pioneer"
188:A Brief History of St. Matthias Episcopal Church
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190:. Asheville, North Carolina: NP. p. 6.
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216:Wayne., Slusser, Dale (2013).
62:Civic and Religious Engagement
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56:St. Matthias Episcopal Church
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270:nc02214494.schoolwires.net
77:African American Education
44:Morganton, North Carolina
24:Asheville, North Carolina
52:Trinity Episcopal Church
158:"Isaac Dickson (Dixon)"
186:Abbott, James (2016).
266:"About Us / Homepage"
48:Young Men's Institute
201:"Isaac Was First".
91:Edward S. Stephens
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203:Asheville Citizen
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