Chronicles of American Women

Name:

Horatia Nelson

Place of Birth:

Chase City, Mecklinburg County, VA

Place of Death:

Brooklyn, NY

Ethnicity:

Black

Religion:

Congregational

Father's Name:

James Ellis Dodson, Jr.

Mother's Maiden Name:

Chavis

Spouse's Name:

Gurney Elliot Nelson, Sr.

Children's Names:

Gurney Elliot Nelson, Jr., Phyllis Nelson Drayton

Sibling's Names :

Beulah Dodson, Chavis Hugo Dodson

Formal Education:

University of Pennsylvania - Teaching Certificate - c.1919; Ohio State University - BA in English / English Literature - c.1928; Ohio State University - Masters Degree in English - c. 1931

Job Title:

Professor

Company Name:

Benedict College, Columbia South Carolina

Employment History:

Taught English and English literature from the late 1930's through 1954

Affiliations:

A founder of the alumnae chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Columbia, SC; NAACP; USO

Awards and Dates:

Numerous

Interests and Hobbies:

International travel, writing poetry, Pickling watermelon rinds, canning fruit

Additional Comments:

My beloved grandmother, Horatia Nelson Dodson, was a great orator, teacher, activist and was an advocate for suffrage among disenfranchised African Americans in the segregated south. My mother remembers having a cross burned on their front lawn on the campus of Benedict College, where my grandfather served as Dean, as a result of my grandmothers activism. She is an inspiration for us all. -Joyce R. Drayton, MD, FACP (Decatur, GA)