Dabney Stewart Lancaster (October 12, 1889 – March 11, 1975) was an American educator and government official. A native of Richmond, Virginia, he attended the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech and went on to serve as Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction from 1941 to 1946, as the president of Longwood College (now Longwood University from 1946 to 1955, and as the first head of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.[1] In 1967, the state honored him by naming its new community college in Clifton Forge after him, and he died in Lexington on March 11, 1975.[2] While Lancaster was previously described as a moderate on racial issues, relative to his contemporaries, advocating for equal pay for white and black teachers, his support of race-based segregation in public schools during his career and the discovery of his involvement with the Anglo-Saxon Clubs of America, a white supremacist organization, prompted state officials to change the name of Dabney S. Lancaster Community College to Mountain Gateway Community College, effective 2022, in the wake of the George Floyd protests.[3][4]
Dabney S. Lancaster | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Lancaster, c. 1955 | |
| 1st Chair of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia | |
| In office August 21, 1956 – June 30, 1964 | |
| Governor | |
| Succeeded by | Sol W. Rawls Jr. |
| 17th President of Longwood University | |
| In office July 1, 1946 – July 1, 1955 | |
| Preceded by | Joseph L. Jarman |
| Succeeded by | Francis Lankford Jr. |
| 10th Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction | |
| In office September 1, 1941 – June 15, 1946 | |
| Governor | |
| Preceded by | Sidney B. Hall |
| Succeeded by | G. Tyler Miller |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Dabney Stewart Lancaster October 12, 1889 Richmond, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | March 11, 1975 (aged 85) Lexington, Virginia, U.S. |
| Resting place | Hollywood Cemetery |
| Spouse | Mary Tabb Crump |
| Children | 4 |
| Education | |
References
edit- ^ Written at Lexington, Virginia. "Dabney S. Lancaster, Educator, Succumbs". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Vol. 124, no. 71. Richmond, Virginia. March 12, 1975. p. B4. Retrieved April 24, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Written at Lexington, Virginia. "Dabney Lancaster, Va. Educator, Dies". The Roanoke Times. Vol. 177, no. 70. Roanoke, Virginia. Associated Press. March 12, 1975. p. 5. Retrieved April 24, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Weissman, Sara (June 22, 2021). "Dabney S. Lancaster Community College Will Change Its Name". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved April 24, 2024.
- ^ Thomas, Will (June 30, 2022). Written at Alleghany County, Virginia. "Mountain Gateway Community College name change becomes official". WDBJ7.com. Roanoke, Virginia. Retrieved April 24, 2024.
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