Dorothea "Dollie" Bishop Dale was born 1872 in Marietta, Marshall Co., Iowa. Her mother Ruth Morlan Bishop was a life long member of the Quakers Church, and an educator, teaching in the local school for over 23 years. Her father, Marshall Bishop, never joined as a member, but was an ardent and sympathetic supporter.He dedicated money and land for the building of Hartland High School, in Marietta, Iowa. Dollie Bishop Dale's father, Marshall Bishop died suddenly in 1891 and was buried in the Hartland Friends Cemetery in Marietta, Marshall Co., Iowa, along with Dollie's older sister, Mattie Martha Bishop, who had died in 1886, while attending school in Valparaiso, Indiana. Dollie Bishop was involved with books as long as she could remember, helping to organize and care for the local school library as early as 8 years old. Finishing local schools she went on to graduate from St. Clara College, in Sinsinawa, Wisconsin. She later attended Valparaiso College, in Indiana, and also attended Highland Park College, in Des Moines, Iowa. She met and married Dr. John R. Dale in 1895. After their marriage they had settled into Cedar, Mahaska Co., Iowa. In March of 1898 they had a son, named Clifford Dale, who died in April of 1898. They stayed in the Mahaska County area until after 1900.
In 1902 the extended Bishop family had decided to move to the new Oklahoma Territory. Mrs Dollie Dale and her husband's family moved to Sedan, where she did library work for about 8 years. They then moved and settled in Hobart, Kiowa Co., Oklahoma, where the Bishop families had moved. She has had various careers, included being a pharmacist for seven years. She taught High School in Hobart from 1915-1916, and was Hobart's Superintendent of Schools from 1917-1918. Her husband, Dr. John R. Dale, a practicing physician in Hobart, died 25 September 1918. A few months later the State Library Commission was being organized and she was asked, and encouraged, to apply for the position of Secretary of Libraries for the State of Oklahoma. She was accepted and moved to Oklahoma City in 1919. She held this position as Secretary of Libraries for the state of Oklahoma, from 1919 until her retirement in 1950, a total of 31 years.
She was listed in Who's Who in Oklahoma in 1935. She was elected to the state Hall of Fame in 1948, and for several years was library service chairman of the Oklahoma Federation of Women's Clubs. She was named "Woman of the Year" in January of 1950 by the Oklahoma City Business and Professional Women's Club. She was also, the past president of Oklahoma Library Association, a member of the Town Club of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma City Art League, Daughters of Democracy and a member of the Presbyterian Church.