232 North Mason Street
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Last updated on March 25, 2024
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Directions from The First Baptist Church to site 8:
- Cross N Mason St on E Wolfe St
- Site 9 is on your left
Dr. Eugene Dickerson was born around the 1870s in Charlottesville, VA. Dickerson received his early education at a local African American school in Charlottesville. He studied at the Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute (Virginia State University) and earned a bachelor’s degree in 1896. Dickerson earned his medical degree from Leonard Medical School at Shaw University in 1900. He continued his post-graduate work at Howard University and interned at Freedman’s Hospital, a black medicine institution. In 1910, Dr. Dickerson settled in Harrisonburg and served as a physician for the Black community for thirty years. He was referred to by his patients and community members by “Doc Dickerson.” He lived with his wife and children on the east corner of North Mason Street and East Wolfe Street. His home was also his medical office. He was not allowed to treat patients at the Rockingham Memorial Hospital and had performed surgeries at Freedman’s Hospital in Washington, D.C. Dr. Dickerson provided care for all ages.
During his career, he wrote a paper titled “Conversation of Health of Community,” which he presented at the local Colored Teacher’s Institute. Dr. Dickerson was an active member of the medical African American community by being a member of the Association of Former Interns of Freedman Hospital in Washington, International Congress on Tuberculosis, Negro Tuberculosis Auxiliary, 1920 Virginia State Republican Convention, Liberty Loan Committee, and Harrisonburg Community Cooperative Association Board of Directors. On April 28, 1924, Dr. Dickerson wrote a letter to W.E.B. DuBois with concerns about the presence and activities of the Ku Klux Klan in Harrisonburg. Dr. Dickerson practiced medicine until his death in 1955. His buried in the Newtown Cemetery with his wife and son. The former Dickerson home is privately owned.
During his career, he wrote a paper titled “Conversation of Health of Community,” which he presented at the local Colored Teacher’s Institute. Dr. Dickerson was an active member of the medical African American community by being a member of the Association of Former Interns of Freedman Hospital in Washington, International Congress on Tuberculosis, Negro Tuberculosis Auxiliary, 1920 Virginia State Republican Convention, Liberty Loan Committee, and Harrisonburg Community Cooperative Association Board of Directors. On April 28, 1924, Dr. Dickerson wrote a letter to W.E.B. DuBois with concerns about the presence and activities of the Ku Klux Klan in Harrisonburg. Dr. Dickerson practiced medicine until his death in 1955. His buried in the Newtown Cemetery with his wife and son. The former Dickerson home is privately owned.
