Dan W. Dodson | |
---|---|
Born | Franklin County, Texas, U.S. | April 8, 1907
Died | August 5, 1995 Austin, Texas, U.S. | (aged 88)
Spouse |
Evelyn Foreman (m. 1937) |
Children | Dan Dodson Jr. |
Academic background | |
Alma mater | |
Academic work | |
Discipline | Sociology |
Institutions | New York University |
Daniel William Dodson Sr. (April 8, 1907 – August 5, 1995) was an American sociology professor, a supporter of civil rights,[1] and a critic of segregation in education.[2]
Dodson was born on April 8, 1907, in Panther's Chapel, Texas, the son of a sharecropper.[3] He received his bachelor's degree at McMurry College, in Abilene, Texas.[3] He later received his graduate degree from Southern Methodist University.[3]
In 1936, Dodson became a sociology professor at New York University.[3] He received early schooling at his local Methodist church.[4] Dodson was influential in working to break the color barrier in baseball, working closely with Branch Rickey to hire Jackie Robinson in 1946.[3] He retired as professor of sociology in 1972,[5] and returned to Texas that same year.[6]
He married his wife Evelyn Foreman on June 9, 1937, in Dallas, Texas.[7] Dodson died on August 5, 1995, in Austin, Texas.[1] He was survived by his wife and his son, Dan Jr.[8]
Dodson is the narrator in the documentary, Crisis in Levittown, PA.[9]
"It is now clear that not only does prejudice produce segregation, but segregation produces prejudice."[5]
"Most of us accept current prejudices when we're not exposed to the facts, but I gradually dropped them as I learned the facts."[8]