Year Honored: 1989
Birth: 1891 - 1970
Born in: Washington D.C
Biography
Pauline Dyson was at the heart of the desegregation of the Claymont school district in 1952. She moved to Delaware alongside her husband and attended Delaware State College to earn her teaching degree. Her first teaching job was at State Line School, a two-room school donated by the DuPont’s for African American students. At times, one room held 45 students.
Louis L. Redding filed a civil action suit against the Claymont School District in 1951, claiming that the facilities for black and white students were unequal. Delaware Chancellor Collins J. Seitz agreed, declaring that 12 African American students should be enrolled at Claymont High School. The decision was upheld by the Delaware Supreme Court. This was disputed, however, by the State Board of Education and the Delaware Attorney General, claiming the need to wait for a U.S Supreme Court decision. The Superintendent, H.E Stahl, and the Claymont School Board refused to wait, and went ahead with desegregation. The case would later be included in arguments for the Brown vs. Board of Education Suit that ended school segregation in the U.S. Dyson took personal responsibility for “handling any trouble with her boys and girls” and assisted the students in making the transition.
During the Great Depression, Dyson collected clothing and shoes for the needy, helped to establish a thrift shop, counseled neighbors who needed work, and organized scout troops. Later she served as Superintend of Sunday Schools for the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Wilmington District, for 28 years; and was on the board of directors for the Brandywine YMCA.
She was the only woman to have received a Boy Scout Service Award and was also honored with the Richard C. DuPont Post American Legion Outstanding Woman of the Year Award (1954).
_____________________________________________________________________________
Sources and Additional Readings
Old Claymont High School. Delaware Public Archives - State of Delaware. (2020, August 1). Retrieved January 10, 2022, from https://archives.delaware.gov/historical-markers-map/old-claymont-high-school/
Richards, R. H. (1966, August 25). Dyson, pauline. UDSpace Home. Retrieved January 10, 2022, from https://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/20080
