Biographical Text
Professor Emeritus of History Jefferson Max Dixon (September 6, 1921 ), retired college professor and administrator, was born in Leary, Georgia, the son of Jesse Maxwell and Lucile Hammond Dixon. Dixon graduated from Arlington High School, Georgia in 1938. He met his future wife, Theota Mervin (Pete or Petey) Clark later that year in an algebra class while attending Norman Junior College (Baptist), Norman Park, Georgia. Theota Dixon (June 21,1921 ) was born in Ashford, Alabama, the daughter of James Grady and Bernice Jones Clark. She is one of twin girls, dubbed by their grandfather as "Pete" and "Dick." In 1940 Dixon and Clark graduated from Norman Junior College. Dixon at the time was awarded the Friedlander Cup as most outstanding graduate. He had edited the Norman Junior College school paper and had been president of the sophomore class. In the early 1940s Theota Clark taught three years in elementary schools in Norman Park and Morgan, Georgia. Max Dixon went to work in Atlanta and began his studies in architecture at the Georgia School of Technology. Some months after Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941), however, he was selected for military service and was inducted into the United States Army at Atlanta's Fort McPherson. Dixon was sent to a school for radio operators and spent the winter of 1942-43 (thirteen weeks) in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Upon graduation from "R.O. School," he was selected for officer training and sent first to Boca Raton, Florida (for military training) and then to Yale University (for technical training). Then he went to the west coast for temporary duty in San Diego and Los Angeles as lieutenant in the Army Air Corps. Afterwards, while stationed at Moses Lake Army Air Base in Washington (state), he was married to Theota Clark on June 25,1944 in the army chapel. Theota had been driven across the country for the occasion by his parents. Some months later Dixon embarked from Salt Lake City to Alaska and the far Aleutian Islands. On the way back home, after over a year on the islands, he was shipwrecked, narrowly escaping drowning and was able to save only some pictures of his wife. Dixon was separated from the Army at San Antonio, Texas in October, 1946, after serving four years. After the war, the Dixons lived in Atlanta, where Theota attended the University of Georgia, Atlanta Division, and Max attended Emory University. Theota was awarded her degree in Commercial Science in 1948 and Max his A.B. degree in history the same year. Later that year, while Theota worked in the Emory library, Max entered graduate school there on a tuition scholarship. He was awarded the M.A. degree in history in 1949. His Masters thesis was: "Georgia Railroad Growth and Development, 1865-1917." The first professional employment for both the Dixons was in 1949 in Cherokee County, in North Georgia above Atlanta-Max accepted a position at Reinhardt College in Waleska, where he served as registrar, as well as instructor in history. Theota taught third and fourth grades in the county schools, but in late 1950 was in a serious automobile accident and for a while was not expected to live. After two years at Reinhardt, the couple moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where Max commenced doctoral studies at George Peabody College for Teachers (now George Peabody College of Vanderbilt University), and Theota worked at the library school on campus. Dixon received the Ph.D. degree in history in 1953. His dissertation was: "The Central Railroad of Georgia. 1833-1892." In that year, the Dixons returned to Waleska and Reinhardt, where Dixon served three years as dean and registrar. In 1956 the Dixons moved to Boone. North Carolina, where Max joined the Social Studies faculty of Appalachian State Teachers College (now Appalachian State University). Mrs. Dixon worked in the college's library in 1957-58. Professor Dixon taught a variety of history courses, including World Civilization and American history surveys. He taught three graduate courses fairly regularly: Formation of the American Union. History of United States Foreign Policy, and Interpreting American History. Also, over the years, he taught a course on contemporary American history, which was a sophomore-level course on post-war (1945 ) American history and contemporary issues of American foreign and domestic policy. Professor Dixon's publications include: "Building the Central of Georgia Railroad," in Georgia Historical Quarterly. March, 1961. "Democracy and Liberalism: An Essay in Contrasts," in Social Studies. April, 1962. "History and the American Revolution, in Social Studies. February, 1968. "The Wataugans." For the Tennessee American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, 1976 "The Short Victory," in Horn in the West program book on the Battle of Kings Mountain. "The Other Wataugans," in Watauga County Times..past. December, 1982. Dixon also authored numerous assignment essays for students in his classes in America in the Contemporary World, on such topics as Watergate, the administration of Gerald Ford; Nixon and Vietnam; and economic policy options. At Appalachian State University, Professor Dixon served as the First chairman of the new history department from 1965 to 1969. He was also elected for a three-year term to the Faculty Senate in 1969; served as the Senate's secretary in the early 1970's; and served as the chairman of the Senate's Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee. With Deans Bozard and Williams, Dixon was editor of the university's Institutional Research and Self-Study in cooperation with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in 1961-62. He was a chairman before and after 1976 of the campus American Revolution Bicentennial Committee. During these years Mrs. Dixon was a member in three campus women's organizations: the Ad-Mins, the Faculty Dames, and the Appalachian Woman's Club. She was a founding member of the Appalachian Garden Club. The Dixons were members over the years of the Boone United Methodist Church and, during the early years, were sponsors together of the Wesley Foundation, a campus ministry (new at Appalachian State University) to college students. For fourteen years in the 1960s and 1970s, Dr. Dixon was secretary of the Administrative Board of the church. In the Boone community, Dixon was a Rotarian during most of the 1960s and 1970s, serving as president in 1967-68. In 1971 he authored the Club's 81-page "Boone Rotary Club: Handbook and History 1948-1970." In the early 1980s, he served as chairman of the Mayor's ad hoc committee (one of thirteen) on preservation and restoration of historic buildings and sites. Professor Dixon retired from his position at Appalachian State University in 1983 but is fondly and respectfully remembered for his outstanding ability as a teacher/artist in the classroom by his students; for his consummate skill as an educational leader by his colleagues; and for his commitment to the community and his devotion to his church. The Dixon's are spending their retirement years in Bermuda Run near Winston-Salem and Caldwell County near Blowing Rock, North Carolina. This 1987 edition of The Appalachian Faculty Emeriti book is dedicated to Dr. Dixon (please see the Dedication page). Sources: Based on long association and personal interviews. - Dr. Richard D. Howe
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