Born: 3 June 1916, United States
Died: 16 October 1991
Country most active: United States
Also known as: NA
The following is republished with permission from the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History at Case Western Reserve University.
DIXON, ARDELIA BRADLEY (3 June 1916-16 Oct. 1991) served on the CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY (CPL) board of trustees (1980-88), as chair of both the personnel and community services committees and as secretary. She worked as a secretary at ANTIOCH BAPTIST CHURCH, CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL, and John Hay High School (CLEVELAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS), and volunteered for countless local and national organizations, including the INTERCHURCH COUNCIL OF GREATER CLEVELAND and the National Council of Churches. Dixon was born in Atlantic City, NJ, to Oscar and Ardelia (Jackson) Dixon and moved to Cleveland as a child. She graduated from John Hay High School, attended Fenn College (1940-41, see CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY) and received a BA. from the Cleveland College of Western Reserve University (later CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY) in 1948.
Dixon married Henry George Dixon (d. 1991) on 1945. They lived in Cleveland; there were no children. Dixon was a life member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE (NAACP) and served on many NAACP committees. She marched in Washington, DC, for civil rights in 1963. In the 1980s she frequently expressed support of CPL in letters to the editor, published in the PLAIN DEALER. A volunteer at Fairhill Pyschiatric Hospital (See FAIRHILL MENTAL HEALTH CENTER) and the PHILLIS WHEATLEY ASSOCIATION, Dixon belonged to Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority for 47 years. She died in BEACHWOOD’s Parkland Nursing Home.