Lula Cole Dawson
Lula Cole Dawson was born on April 15, 1931, in Jonesboro, Louisiana. After graduating from high school, Dawson earned an A.B. degree in sociology and counseling in 1952 from Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She then interned at Andover Newton Seminary in Andover, Massachusetts. In the fall of 1952 she began graduate studies in sociology at Boston University, where she earned her master’s degree in 1953.
Dawson began her career in 1954 working as the director of student activities at the student center of Southern University. In 1958, Dawson was hired as an interviewer with the Employment Security Commission in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she worked until 1960. Between 1960 and 1972, Dawson traveled with her husband, diplomat Horace Dawson, and was involved in a number of volunteer projects throughout Africa. She sponsored galas to benefit orphanages and organized a craft shop for young girls in Nigeria. She partnered with Victoria Tolbert, wife of the president of Liberia, to build a hostel for young women and organized a self-help program for mothers of children at Mulago Hospital in Uganda.
Dawson returned to the United States with her husband in 1972, and was hired as a field coordinator by the Tennessee State University Training Coordination Center to help identify and train teachers who had been displaced by the desegregation of Tennessee schools. Two years later, she was hired as a consultant to the D.C. Citizens for Better Public Education, where she focused her efforts on providing better educational opportunities for the disadvantaged. Returning overseas with her husband, Dawson served as chairman of the organizing committee of the Friends of the Cultural Center of the Philippines from 1977 to 1979. After her husband’s appointment by President Jimmy Carter as the ambassador to Botswana, Dawson became honorary chairperson of the Child-to-Child Foundation of Botswana and chairperson of the First Lady’s Charity Ball in Botswana.
After returning from Africa, Dawson worked as a consultant for the Washington, D.C. Public School System, the Department of Health and Human Services, St. Augustine’s College International Studies and Foreign Language Learning program and the State Department’s Agency for International Development. She served on the board of the Friends of the Museum of African Art and was presented with the Republic of Botswana Award for Outstanding Public Service. Dawson passed away on January 14, 2004 at the age of 72.
A2003.123
Female
6/6/2003
Dawson
Married
Cole
Lula
Jonesboro
DAW01
None
Louisiana
None
This Too Shall Pass.

District of Columbia
4/15/1931
Washington
United States
Chicken
1/14/2004
Education consultant and government consultant Lula Cole Dawson (1931 - 2004 ) , wife of ambassador Horace G. Dawson, Jr., was involved in a number of volunteer projects throughout Africa and became honorary chairperson of the Child-to-Child Foundation of Botswana. She later worked as a consultant in the Washington D.C. area until her death in 2004.
Southern University
Employment Security Commission
Tennessee State University
D.C. Citizens for Better Public Education
Yellow
Tape: 1 Story: 1 - Slating of Lula Cole Dawson's interview
Tape: 1 Story: 2 - Lula Cole Dawson lists her favorites
Tape: 1 Story: 3 - Lula Cole Dawson describes her paternal family background
Tape: 1 Story: 4 - Lula Cole Dawson describes her maternal family background
Tape: 1 Story: 5 - Lula Cole Dawson remembers Huey Long visiting her family reunions
Tape: 1 Story: 6 - Lula Cole Dawson describes her father, Jerry Cole
Tape: 1 Story: 7 - Lula Cole Dawson describes her love of reading as a child
Tape: 1 Story: 8 - Lula Cole Dawson talks about Professor Hawk and Jonesboro Colored School
Tape: 1 Story: 9 - Lula Cole Dawson shares her memories of attending Jonesboro Public School and growing up with racism
Tape: 1 Story: 10 - Lula Cole Dawson recalls her favorite teachers at Jonesboro Public School
Tape: 2 Story: 1 - Lula Cole Dawson remembers listening to the radio in the 1930s
Tape: 2 Story: 2 - Lula Cole Dawson remembers when her father sold land to the government
Tape: 2 Story: 3 - Lula Cole Dawson recalls the night the KKK came to her house to confront her parents
Tape: 2 Story: 4 - Lula Cole Dawson describes attending Browngrove Baptist Church
Tape: 2 Story: 5 - Lula Cole Dawson describes her father's generosity
Tape: 2 Story: 6 - Lula Cole Dawson describes her decision to attend Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Tape: 2 Story: 7 - Lula Cole Dawson describes attending Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Tape: 2 Story: 8 - Lula Cole Dawson describes her activities at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Tape: 2 Story: 9 - Lula Cole Dawson talks about race at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Tape: 3 Story: 1 - Lula Cole Dawson talks about white men who had secret black families, pt. 1
Tape: 3 Story: 2 - Lula Cole Dawson talks about white men who had secret black families, pt. 2
Tape: 3 Story: 3 - Lula Cole Dawson describes attending Boston University for graduate school
Tape: 3 Story: 4 - Lula Cole Dawson talks about why she decided not to become a social worker
Tape: 3 Story: 5 - Lula Cole Dawson describes her professors at Boston University in Boston, Massachusetts
Tape: 3 Story: 6 - Lula Cole Dawson talks about meeting Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at Boston University
Tape: 3 Story: 7 - Lula Cole Dawson describes how she met her husband, HistoryMaker Horace Dawson
Tape: 3 Story: 8 - Lula Cole Dawson talks about marrying her husband and moving to North Carolina
Tape: 4 Story: 1 - Lula Cole Dawson recalls Doug E. Moore's move to Africa
Tape: 4 Story: 2 - Lula Cole Dawson describes meeting Edward R. Murrow, pt. 1
Tape: 4 Story: 3 - Lula Cole Dawson describes meeting Edward R. Murrow, pt. 2
Tape: 4 Story: 4 - Lula Cole Dawson talks about the difficulty of finding suitable housing in Washington, D.C. in 1960
Tape: 4 Story: 5 - Lula Cole Dawson talks about living in Uganda in 1961
Tape: 4 Story: 6 - Lula Cole Dawson talks about being a diplomat's wife in Uganda in the early 1960s
Tape: 4 Story: 7 - Lula Cole Dawson talks about Ugandans' reaction to the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963
Tape: 4 Story: 8 - Lula Cole Dawson talks about challenging white Americans in Uganda
Tape: 5 Story: 1 - Lula Cole Dawson describes her role as a foreign diplomat's wife
Tape: 5 Story: 2 - Lula Cole Dawson describes African political leaders in the 1960s
Tape: 5 Story: 3 - Lula Cole Dawson talks about issues faced by Nigeria
Tape: 5 Story: 4 - Lula Cole Dawson recalls attending an event with Cecil Dennis in Liberia
Tape: 5 Story: 5 - Lula Cole Dawson talks about Liberian Presidents William Tubman and William Tolbert
Tape: 5 Story: 6 - Lula Cole Dawson describes serving in the Philippines
Tape: 5 Story: 7 - Lula Cole Dawson describes President Seretse and Ruth Williams Khama in Botswana
Tape: 5 Story: 8 - Lula Cole Dawson talks about getting to know the Botswanan people
Tape: 6 Story: 1 - Lula Cole Dawson talks about helping First Lady of Botswana, Gladys Molefi Olebile
Tape: 6 Story: 2 - Lula Cole Dawson describes organizing the First Lady's Charity Ball in Botswana
Tape: 6 Story: 3 - Lula Cole Dawson describes her legacy in Africa
Tape: 6 Story: 4 - Lula Cole Dawson describes her activities after returning to the United States
Tape: 6 Story: 5 - Lula Cole Dawson describes her hopes and concerns for the black community
Tape: 6 Story: 6 - Lula Cole Dawson reflects upon her legacy
Tape: 6 Story: 7 - Lula Cole Dawson describes how she would like to be remembered
Tape: 6 Story: 8 - Lula Cole Dawson narrates her photographs
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4$5
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