Earl B. Dickerson, 95, a tireless spokesman for racial equality and a founder of the Supreme Life Insurance Co. of America and the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, died Monday at his Hyde Park home.
During a career studded with accomplishments, Mr. Dickerson was an Army officer and teacher before becoming a lawyer. He successfully argued a landmark case against restrictive real-estate covenants before the Supreme Court and served as president of the National Lawyers Guild.
He also was elected alderman over the opposition of South Side powerhouse William L. Dawson.
Mr. Dickerson once explained his tendency to buck the tide by saying, "I'm the sort of a fellow who just never could be satisfied with the status quo, who could never be content with the way things were."
Mr. Dickerson was born June 22, 1891, in Canton, Miss., the son of a washerwoman, and moved to Chicago in 1907 to escape racial oppression.
"I was filled with those youthful visions of a new-found freedom that looked for a personal and tangible solution to the problems and injustices that had stricken my life as a child in Mississippi," he once said in a speech.
Mr. Dickerson graduated in 1909 from Evanston Academy, then a division of Northwestern University. After graduating in 1914 from the University of Illinois, he taught at an Indiana high school and at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. He attended law school at the University of Chicago and served in France during World War I as a first lieutenant with the 365st Infantry.
In 1921, he became the first general counsel of the new Supreme Life Insurance Co. of America and later became president and chairman of the board of the company, which has become one of the largest black-owned insurance companies in the country. He was named honorary chairman in 1973.
Mr. Dickerson spearheaded the efforts of mayoral candidate William Deaver in black neighborhoods in 1923 and was appointed assistant corporation counsel after Deaver won. He was an alternate to the 1924 and 1928 Democratic national conventions and was an assistant attorney general for Illinois.
In 1939, Mr. Dickerson helped organize the NAACP Legal Defense and Education fund.
That year, he also challenged Ald. William L. Dawson (2nd), the most powerful black politician in Chicago.
Though Dawson "threw everything he had at me," Mr. Dickerson recalled, he defeated Dawson. The next year, he unsuccessfully challenged Dawson for a congressional seat, and in 1943 lost his Council seat to Dawson.
In 1939, representing the father of the late Chicago playwright Lorraine Hansberry, Mr. Dickerson argued the case Hansberry vs. Lee before the Supreme Court, which in 1941 struck down restrictive real-estate covenants.
In 1941, President Roosevelt appointed Mr. Dickerson to the Fair Employment Practices Commission. He again ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1948 on the Progressive Party ticket.
In 1956, Mr. Dickerson was named a director of the old South Side Bank and Trust Co., where he was thought to be the first black commercial bank director in Chicago.
Mr. Dickerson was past president of the Chicago Urban League and past director of both the national Urban League and NAACP. He also reviewed books for the Chicago Sun-Times during the 1970s.
A scholarship fund has been established in his name at the University of Chicago Law School.
During a career studded with accomplishments, Mr. Dickerson was an Army officer and teacher before becoming a lawyer. He successfully argued a landmark case against restrictive real-estate covenants before the Supreme Court and served as president of the National Lawyers Guild.
He also was elected alderman over the opposition of South Side powerhouse William L. Dawson.
Mr. Dickerson once explained his tendency to buck the tide by saying, "I'm the sort of a fellow who just never could be satisfied with the status quo, who could never be content with the way things were."
Mr. Dickerson was born June 22, 1891, in Canton, Miss., the son of a washerwoman, and moved to Chicago in 1907 to escape racial oppression.
"I was filled with those youthful visions of a new-found freedom that looked for a personal and tangible solution to the problems and injustices that had stricken my life as a child in Mississippi," he once said in a speech.
Mr. Dickerson graduated in 1909 from Evanston Academy, then a division of Northwestern University. After graduating in 1914 from the University of Illinois, he taught at an Indiana high school and at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. He attended law school at the University of Chicago and served in France during World War I as a first lieutenant with the 365st Infantry.
In 1921, he became the first general counsel of the new Supreme Life Insurance Co. of America and later became president and chairman of the board of the company, which has become one of the largest black-owned insurance companies in the country. He was named honorary chairman in 1973.
Mr. Dickerson spearheaded the efforts of mayoral candidate William Deaver in black neighborhoods in 1923 and was appointed assistant corporation counsel after Deaver won. He was an alternate to the 1924 and 1928 Democratic national conventions and was an assistant attorney general for Illinois.
In 1939, Mr. Dickerson helped organize the NAACP Legal Defense and Education fund.
That year, he also challenged Ald. William L. Dawson (2nd), the most powerful black politician in Chicago.
Though Dawson "threw everything he had at me," Mr. Dickerson recalled, he defeated Dawson. The next year, he unsuccessfully challenged Dawson for a congressional seat, and in 1943 lost his Council seat to Dawson.
In 1939, representing the father of the late Chicago playwright Lorraine Hansberry, Mr. Dickerson argued the case Hansberry vs. Lee before the Supreme Court, which in 1941 struck down restrictive real-estate covenants.
In 1941, President Roosevelt appointed Mr. Dickerson to the Fair Employment Practices Commission. He again ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1948 on the Progressive Party ticket.
In 1956, Mr. Dickerson was named a director of the old South Side Bank and Trust Co., where he was thought to be the first black commercial bank director in Chicago.
Mr. Dickerson was past president of the Chicago Urban League and past director of both the national Urban League and NAACP. He also reviewed books for the Chicago Sun-Times during the 1970s.
A scholarship fund has been established in his name at the University of Chicago Law School.
Earl B. Dickerson, 95, a tireless spokesman for racial equality and a founder of the Supreme Life Insurance Co. of America and the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, died Monday at his Hyde Park home.
During a career studded with accomplishments, Mr. Dickerson was an Army officer and teacher before becoming a lawyer. He successfully argued a landmark case against restrictive real-estate covenants before the Supreme Court and served as president of the National Lawyers Guild.
He also was elected alderman over the opposition of South Side powerhouse William L. Dawson.
Mr. Dickerson once explained his tendency to buck the tide by saying, "I'm the sort of a fellow who just never could be satisfied with the status quo, who could never be content with the way things were."
Mr. Dickerson was born June 22, 1891, in Canton, Miss., the son of a washerwoman, and moved to Chicago in 1907 to escape racial oppression.
"I was filled with those youthful visions of a new-found freedom that looked for a personal and tangible solution to the problems and injustices that had stricken my life as a child in Mississippi," he once said in a speech.
Mr. Dickerson graduated in 1909 from Evanston Academy, then a division of Northwestern University. After graduating in 1914 from the University of Illinois, he taught at an Indiana high school and at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. He attended law school at the University of Chicago and served in France during World War I as a first lieutenant with the 365st Infantry.
In 1921, he became the first general counsel of the new Supreme Life Insurance Co. of America and later became president and chairman of the board of the company, which has become one of the largest black-owned insurance companies in the country. He was named honorary chairman in 1973.
Mr. Dickerson spearheaded the efforts of mayoral candidate William Deaver in black neighborhoods in 1923 and was appointed assistant corporation counsel after Deaver won. He was an alternate to the 1924 and 1928 Democratic national conventions and was an assistant attorney general for Illinois.
In 1939, Mr. Dickerson helped organize the NAACP Legal Defense and Education fund.
That year, he also challenged Ald. William L. Dawson (2nd), the most powerful black politician in Chicago.
Though Dawson "threw everything he had at me," Mr. Dickerson recalled, he defeated Dawson. The next year, he unsuccessfully challenged Dawson for a congressional seat, and in 1943 lost his Council seat to Dawson.
In 1939, representing the father of the late Chicago playwright Lorraine Hansberry, Mr. Dickerson argued the case Hansberry vs. Lee before the Supreme Court, which in 1941 struck down restrictive real-estate covenants.
In 1941, President Roosevelt appointed Mr. Dickerson to the Fair Employment Practices Commission. He again ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1948 on the Progressive Party ticket.
In 1956, Mr. Dickerson was named a director of the old South Side Bank and Trust Co., where he was thought to be the first black commercial bank director in Chicago.
Mr. Dickerson was past president of the Chicago Urban League and past director of both the national Urban League and NAACP. He also reviewed books for the Chicago Sun-Times during the 1970s.
A scholarship fund has been established in his name at the University of Chicago Law School.
During a career studded with accomplishments, Mr. Dickerson was an Army officer and teacher before becoming a lawyer. He successfully argued a landmark case against restrictive real-estate covenants before the Supreme Court and served as president of the National Lawyers Guild.
He also was elected alderman over the opposition of South Side powerhouse William L. Dawson.
Mr. Dickerson once explained his tendency to buck the tide by saying, "I'm the sort of a fellow who just never could be satisfied with the status quo, who could never be content with the way things were."
Mr. Dickerson was born June 22, 1891, in Canton, Miss., the son of a washerwoman, and moved to Chicago in 1907 to escape racial oppression.
"I was filled with those youthful visions of a new-found freedom that looked for a personal and tangible solution to the problems and injustices that had stricken my life as a child in Mississippi," he once said in a speech.
Mr. Dickerson graduated in 1909 from Evanston Academy, then a division of Northwestern University. After graduating in 1914 from the University of Illinois, he taught at an Indiana high school and at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. He attended law school at the University of Chicago and served in France during World War I as a first lieutenant with the 365st Infantry.
In 1921, he became the first general counsel of the new Supreme Life Insurance Co. of America and later became president and chairman of the board of the company, which has become one of the largest black-owned insurance companies in the country. He was named honorary chairman in 1973.
Mr. Dickerson spearheaded the efforts of mayoral candidate William Deaver in black neighborhoods in 1923 and was appointed assistant corporation counsel after Deaver won. He was an alternate to the 1924 and 1928 Democratic national conventions and was an assistant attorney general for Illinois.
In 1939, Mr. Dickerson helped organize the NAACP Legal Defense and Education fund.
That year, he also challenged Ald. William L. Dawson (2nd), the most powerful black politician in Chicago.
Though Dawson "threw everything he had at me," Mr. Dickerson recalled, he defeated Dawson. The next year, he unsuccessfully challenged Dawson for a congressional seat, and in 1943 lost his Council seat to Dawson.
In 1939, representing the father of the late Chicago playwright Lorraine Hansberry, Mr. Dickerson argued the case Hansberry vs. Lee before the Supreme Court, which in 1941 struck down restrictive real-estate covenants.
In 1941, President Roosevelt appointed Mr. Dickerson to the Fair Employment Practices Commission. He again ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1948 on the Progressive Party ticket.
In 1956, Mr. Dickerson was named a director of the old South Side Bank and Trust Co., where he was thought to be the first black commercial bank director in Chicago.
Mr. Dickerson was past president of the Chicago Urban League and past director of both the national Urban League and NAACP. He also reviewed books for the Chicago Sun-Times during the 1970s.
A scholarship fund has been established in his name at the University of Chicago Law School.
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