“Image Ownership: Encyclopedia of Alabama” Prominent lawyer and civil rights advocate Mahala Ashley Dickerson was born on October 12, 1912 in Montgomery County, Alabama. She was dedicated to human rights causes and as a lawyer she often took on the cases involving the rights of women and people of color as well as issues affecting the workplace.  Dickerson often accepted these as pro bono cases and found the time to mentor young minority lawyers throughout her long and illustrious career. Mahala Ashley Dickerson was born and raised in Alabama. Her father was John Augustine Ashley and her mother was Hattie Moss Ashley.  Dickerson also had two sisters, Harriet and Erna. As a young girl she attended Miss White’s School, a private school in Montgomery. She met Rosa Parks at Miss White’s School, and the two quickly became friends. Both became civil rights activists although in different ways; they remained friends for life. Mahala Ashley Dickerson graduated from Fisk University in 1935, and in 1938 she married Henry Dickerson. She and Dickerson had triplets: Alfred, John, and Chris. However the marriage did not last and they were divorced in 1939. She graduated from Howard University Law School in 1945. In 1946 … Continue reading Mahala Ashley Dickerson (1912-2007)