Carolyn Lucas Dickson

(July 25, 1913–Sept. 19, 2010). Carolyn Lucas Dickson was an Indianapolis physician who served patients for 53 years. She was one of the first African American female physicians to own a medical practice in Indianapolis. This work earned her several statewide accolades, including the Sagamore of the Wabash Award as well as the State of Indiana Half Century Business Award. 

Lucas was born in Indianapolis to Clarence A. Lucas Sr., a doctor, and Carrie Heston Lucas, a schoolteacher. She had one brother, Clarence A. Lucas Jr. Carolyn Lucas attended Indianapolis Public School No. 26 and Crispus Attucks High School, before earning a bachelor’s degree in Zoology from Butler University. During her early years, she played the violin and attended Mt. Zion Baptist Church.

Lucas graduated in 1939 from the Howard University School of Medicine in Washington, DC, where she was among the school’s first fifty female graduates. At Howard University, Lucas was a member and president of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the nation’s oldest Greek letter organization for African American women. 

At Howard University, Lucas met fellow medical student Leon Dickson, whom she married on April 16, 1938. The couple completed internships at Freeman’s Hospital in Washington, DC. Carolyn Dickson also completed an internship in Tuskegee, AL, where her husband worked at the Tuskegee Veterans’ Hospital.

The Dicksons had two children. Their son, Leon Dickson Jr., attended Bowdoin College and later conducted cancer research at Howard University. Their daughter, Carolyn D. Dickson, received her undergraduate degree from Wellesley University and a graduate degree from the University of Chicago. She later conducted cancer research with her brother at Howard University. The couple divorced sometime before 1948. 

The exact date of Carolyn Lucas Dickson’s return to Indianapolis is unclear; however, in 1946 she joined her father’s medical practice, which he had established in 1923. By 1949, she had taken over the practice, which likely made her the first African American female physician to own a medical practice in Indianapolis. She continued the practice as the General Medical Practice of Carolyn Lucas Dickson until her retirement in 2002.

In addition to her medical career, Dickson served on the board of directors of the Alpha Home. In 1997, the Governor’s office bestowed upon Dickson the Sagamore of the Wabash. That award, granted in recognition of an individual’s contributions through work or service to the state’s people, is the highest award an Indiana civilian can receive. Dickson also received the State of Indiana Half Century Business Award from the Governor of Indiana and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, recognizing the community contributions of a business in continuous operation for at least 50 years.

Dickson’s long career as an Indianapolis physician and business owner are noteworthy given the entrenched racial segregation within the region’s medical field and the exclusion of women from its highest ranks. Her career suggests that opportunities existed for African American women to succeed despite the segregation of institutions and medical practices in the area. Dickson died at the age of 97 in Silver Spring, Maryland. 

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