Ardelia Dixon
*Ardelia Dixon was born on this date in 1916. She was a Black activist and educator.
Born in Atlantic City to Ardelia Jackson and Oscar Dixon, Mrs. Dixon grew up in Cleveland and graduated from John Hay High School. She attended Fenn College (later Cleveland State University) for a year. Then she began working for her degree part-time at Cleveland College of Western Reserve University (later Case Western Reserve University). In 1945, she married a fellow civic volunteer, Henry George Dixon, and they had no children.
After earning her degree in 1948, Mrs. Dixon worked as a secretary for Antioch Baptist Church, Central High School, and her alma mater, John Hay High School. When she was not working, she volunteered for the Interchurch Council of Greater Cleveland, the National Council of Churches, Fairhill Mental Health Center, and the Phyllis Wheatley Center. She was also a life member of the NAACP and served on many of its committees. In 1963, she took part in the March on Washington D.C. led by Martin Luther King, Jr. She strongly supported the Cleveland Public Library System (CPL) and educational causes.
She served on the CPL board of trustees from 1980 to 1988, chaired the personnel and community services committees, and supported the non-profit children’s book publisher, New Day Press. She was a civic leader who tirelessly supported Cleveland institutions. From civil rights to education, Dixon’s support was always vocal or printed in letters to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Ardelia Bradley Dixon died on October 16, 1991.
