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Early Years and Education

  • The proximity of Anniston to major rivers and railways provided it with ample trade routes.
  • Tuskegee’s Band playing at Tuskegee’s 25th Anniversary celebration in 1906.
  • In 1913, the Tuskegee campus had its own train depot.
  • Booker T. Washington.
  • In keeping with Booker T. Washington's philosophy, all Tuskegee students worked on campus as part of their education and as a contribution to the school.
  • Among his other activities, Dawson was a student cadet at Tuskegee.
  • Listen as Dawson remembers Tuskegee and Booker T. Washington (3:13 min.).
  • Booker T Washington's memorial on Tuskegee’s campus.
  • Dawson at Tuskegee in uniform with his trombone.
  • William Levi Dawson and the Tuskegee Institute Singers
  • This promotional flyer for the Redpath Chautauqua lists the Tuskegee Singers.
  • Dawson’s 1921 graduation photograph.
  • This historic map of Topeka, Kansas provides a geographical context for where Dawson lived and worked.
  • "Forever Thine" demonstrates Dawson’s early compositional skills.
  • Photograph of the orchestra from the Lincoln High School yearbook
  • This Christmas card, sent to Dawson in 1954, features Douglas’s artwork.
  • Dawson’s "Trio in A," which was performed at the Horner Institute of Fine Arts’ 1925 graduation ceremony.
  • This photograph shows the predominantly African American 18th Street area of Kansas City, MO, in the 1920s.
  • An original score of "Jump Back."
  • Weidig was a prominent teacher who also taught composer Ruth Crawford Seeger.
  • Dawson’s appointment to the 51st Precinct of the 2nd Ward, April 10, 1928.
  • William Levi Dawson and Cook’s Orchestra.
  • A receipt for the trombone Dawson rented while playing with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago.
  • Newspaper clipping about Cornelle Derrick Lampton Dawson
  • Program for the Semi-Finals Century of Progress (World's Fair) Band Concerts (Soldier's Field, Chicago, Illinois), 1 September 1929
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Alabama Map

The proximity of Anniston to major rivers and railways provided it with ample trade routes.

William Levi Dawson was born the first of seven children to Eliza Starkey Dawson and George W. Dawson in Anniston, Alabama (Calhoun County), on September 26, 1899. His mother, Eliza, was the educated daughter of successful landowners from Calhoun County, and his father, George, was most likely a former slave from Albany, Georgia (Malone, 19-20). Calhoun County, earlier known as Benton County, is located in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains about 60 miles east of Birmingham and 80 miles west of Atlanta. Anniston is its county seat. At the time of Dawson’s birth, Anniston was home to nearly 10,000 people, 3,700 of whom were African Americans. Anniston was founded as a private company town for Woodstock Iron Company, and only became open to the greater public in 1883. The town was built along a major railroad line, and the major industries in the city were iron and cotton (Spady, M1).