Harvey County Roots: Jesse L. Dickinson

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by Kristine Schmucker, HCHM Curator

In 1976, the Dickinson Fine Arts Academy, South Bend, IN, was dedicated.  Named for Jesse L. Dickinson, who was active in South Bend, IN as a musician and civic leader, the school continues today as a magnet school for grades 5-8 and  is noted for the After-School Arts Adventure program.

Who was Jesse L. Dickinson? What is the connection to Harvey County?

An accomplished musician, Dickinson was also active in public service.  He served six terms in the Indiana House of Representatives and two terms in the state Senate.  Although he spent his adult life in Indiana, his childhood was spent in Newton, Ks.

Jesse L. Dickinson, 1924 Newtonian, HCHM Archives

“Known all over the state for his tenor voice“

Jesse L. Dickinson was born in Chandler, Oklahoma in 1906 to George & Fannie Junkin Dickinson. By 1910, his family had moved to Newton, Kansas.  Shortly after arrival in Newton, his mother, Fannie, died and Jesse lived with his grandmother, Elizabeth Dickinson. At a young age he was active in Newton’s Junior Boys’ Working Reserve. A gifted musician, Dickinson was a  popular soloist for Newton High activities, “known all over the state for his tenor voice.”

Evening Kansan Republican, 12 April 1922.

Involved in “All School Plays” throughout his high school years, Dickinson often sang. He was recognized by the by his peers and received a gold medal for the “best student in the state” from the State of Kansas.

Evening Kansan Republican, 11 Nov. 1922.

NHS Glee Club, 1925-1926. Jesse Dickinson identified.

In addition to vocal and instrumental pursuits, Dickinson was active in debate and on the track team.

Newtonian, 1924.

In 1924, he graduated from Newton High and married Helen Bledsoe, the daughter of Rev. William & Adella Bledsoe of Newton, Kansas. He studied music at Bethel College, followed by Western University, Kansas City. Throughout the 1920s, he performed on the Redpath Chautauque and Lyceum circuits.  In 1928, he moved to South Bend, Indiana. He and Helen had four sons.

In South Bend, Dickinson was also well known for his musical talents.  He directed a popular quintet known as Dickinson Plantation Singers in the 1930s.  He also conducted choirs at churches and local festivals.

He entered public life and was elected to the Indiana House of Representatives for the first time in 1943.

Throughout his life Dickinson’s commitment to others was evident in the organizations he served.  The finding aide for his collection at Indiana Historical Society reveal areas of interest including education, health, aging, human relations, and urbanization. Dickinson is included on the Indiana University “Outstanding Black Americans” list for his efforts in improving race relations in South Bend, including the desegregation of the Natatorium (a segregated swimming pool in South Bend).

He maintained connections with Newton, Ks and attended his 50th class reunion in 1975.

Newton High School Class of 1925 50th Anniversary, August 30-31, 1975.

Dickinson died 5 June 1986.

Sources:

  • The Newtonian, 1924.
  • Evening Kansan Republican: 17 March 1913, 9 November 1917, 22 May 1918,  29 May 1920, 26 February 1921, 14 May 1921, 12 April 1922, 14 April 1922, 15 April 1922, 23 May 1922, 14 October 1922, 11 November 1922
  • Kansan: 14 April 1939.
  • Site for the Dickinson Fine Arts Academy:  http://dickinson.sb.school/home_old-aug15
  • https://library.iusb.edu/search-find/archives/crhc/JesseDickinson.html
  • The repository for Jesse L. Dickinson Collection, 1911-1986 at Manuscript Collections Department, William Henry Smith Memorial Library, Indiana Historical Society, Indianapolis, IN. www.indianahistory.org

 

Harvey County Main Street 5

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The clues for this Harvey County Main Street include Old Settler’s Picnic, the transparent Anatomical Mannequin, Valeda, and the filming of the movie “Picnic.”

Parade on Main for Old Settler’s Picnic, n.d.,

1873 Halstead

The Halstead Town Co. purchased 480 acres and platted a new town at the confluence of the Little Arkansas River & Black Kettle Creek.

The town was named for journalist Murat Halstead. G.W. Sweesy built a two story wood frame hotel at the site.

1877

Halstead incorporated as a 3rd class city on March 12, 1877.

1887

First Old Settler’s Picnic.  The event continues today and is Harvey County’s longest running event.

1907 Old Settler’s Picnic, Main Street, Halstead, Ks

1902

Dr. Arthur Hertzler establishes a clinic and hospital. In 2002, the Hertzler Hospital & Clinic closed due to financial difficulty.

1955

The movie, Picnic is filmed in historic Riverside Park.

1965

The Kansas Health Museum, Halstead,  opened as a “teaching” museum.  Valeda, “the transparent woman,” and other exhibits were designed to educate about the systems of the body. Today the museum, known as the Kansas Learning Center for Health, continues to provide health education for all ages.

Valeda Kansas Learning Center, Halstead, Ks

Valeda fun facts:

  • She is 5’7” and, if alive, would weigh around 145 lbs.
  • The  model actually weighs 98 lbs.
  • She describes the human body as various organs light up.
  • The original mold was made by completely coating the body of a living, 28-year-old German woman with a rubber composition. This was allowed to harden, then peeled off to form the mold for Valeda’s plastic skin.
  • Her aluminum skeleton is situated exactly as it is in the normal human body.
  • In 1965, she cost $14,105.00.

1994

Federal Flood Control Project is completed, protecting the city from future floods.

 

 

Happy Kansas Day! Judge Muse Remembers

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Today, January 29, the state of Kansas turns 158 years old!

In the History of Harvey County 1871-1881, Judge Muse  described his first visit to the area that would become Harvey County. The photos are the earliest Harvey County homes made of sod.

Judge Muse writes:

On the 25th day of August, 1870, we left the city of Topeka . . . and traveled westward via A.T. & S. F. R. R. to the city of Emporia.  . . . On the 26th procured teams and provisions  . . . and started westward.  On the night of the 26th, we stopped at Cottonwood Falls, with Mr. Doolittle, who kept a small hotel in that place. . . On the 27th we continued our journey through an almost uninhabited region, passing over the ground where Florence now stands, and encamped for the night at a ranch owned by Coble and Kelly, about 4 miles east of the present town of Peabody. 

On the 28th we passed over the ground now occupied by the town of Walton. . , We stopped for dinner at a point on Sand Creek just south of where the residence of D. Ainsworth is now situated , and upon the the present town site of Newton.

Here for the first time we struck the Chisholm, or the great Texas Cattle Trail and followed it down on the west side of Sand Creek as far as the mouth of the creek where we found the first settler we had seen in the county, Dr. T.S. Floyd, with who we staid all night.

During the day, and after travelling over thirty miles, we had seen no human habitation or sign of civilization, our way being through high prairie grass, often standing above the height of our wagon wheels and bed.  We varied the monotony of the journey by shooting at wolves, coyotes, antelope and prairie chickens.  After reaching the cattle trail, we were beset by swarms of buffalo gnats and mosquitoes, so ravenous that Mr. Lakin declared that they bit his head through is hat.

Identified as a sod home in Alta.

We found Dr. Floyd and family living in a log house covered with a sod roof, upon which corn was growing and situated on the west bank of Sand Creek a few rods due west from where his present residence stands. . . . After remaining over night with Dr. Floyd . . . we set out the following morning and drove through Park City, then considered a dangerous rival of Wichita and continued our journey as far as Wichita.

Judge R.W.P. Muse, History of Harvey County, 1871-1881 available at the Harvey County Historical Museum & Archives. Muse’s history was included in the 1882 Harvey County Atlas.

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