The following is a chronological listing of Miss Dee’s academic career that I have been able to piece together.  There may be more.  But this timeline shows Miss Dee’s lifelong commitment to learning:

  • 1895 Completed high school in Montgomery.
  • 1898 Completed two years at Alabama Normal School at Livingston, Alabama for an Associate’s Degree;
  • 1901 Completed her A.B. Degree from the University of Alabama, sharing summa  cum laude honors with a male student;
  • 1902 Completed a B.S Degree from Teacher’s College at Columbia University in New York;
  • 1910 Completed training for missionary work at The Methodist Training School in Nashville, TN;
  • 1921 M.A. Peabody College, Nashville, TN;
  • 1923 Course work at University of Chicago Divinity School;
  • 1929-30 Studied for a year at Boston University.;
  • 1936 Certification Course work at Alabama Polytechnic Institute (now Auburn University) through its extension service in Tuskegee to qualify for teaching in Alabama;
  • 1940 Course work at Oklahoma University;
  • 1943 Course work at Emory University.

Miss Dee was not a “professional student.”  Her studies were always with a purpose. Her work at the University of Alabama and at Teachers College, Columbia qualified her to teach.  She then taught in Macon County public schools and at Alabama Normal School at Livingston.  Her work at The Methodist Training School qualified her for missionary work, and most of the remainder of her career was connected to various forms of missionary work.  She was truly a woman with a mission.  She taught at Paine College in Augusta GA while working to establish The Bethlehem House in Augusta. Her master’s degree from Peabody qualified her for College work, and she taught at Oklahoma University. She did not receive a degree, as best I can tell, from Boston University, but after her work there, she taught at Texas Tech.  Her course with API extension service (Auburn) qualified her to teach in Alabama public schools, and she taught at Shorter for a number of years.  I am not clear yet about her work at Emory University in the 1940’s, and don’t know if she also taught there.  She also had some connection in those years, before returning to Shorter, in Macon County, AL in 1945, with Gammon Theological Seminary.

This outline of her studies reflects the structure of her career. My description of her career will move from point to point in her personal educational and teaching experiences.