Daisy Lee Tibbs Dawson (1924-2013) was a peace activist and educator and the only African American to be memorialized in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial. She was born on July 24, 1924 in Toney, Alabama to Calvin and Martha Tibbs, the ninth of eleven children. Both her parents died by the time Daisy was seven years old, whereby she and her two full siblings moved in with a maternal uncle and his wife. Daisy attended Trinity High School, a private Black high school established by white Presbyterian missionaries, while working to support herself.
In 1944 Daisy Tibbs moved to Memphis and then Seattle with her mentors, Mr. and Mrs. J.T. Wright. She attended the University of Washington as one of only sixty-five Black students and graduated in 1948 with a Bachelor of Science in Home Economics. While teaching at Harbison Junior College in South Carolina, Tibbs was invited to join a volunteer team to build houses in Hiroshima, Japan.
In the summer of 1949, Floyd Schmoe, Reverend Emery Andrews, Ruth Jenkins, and Daisy Tibbs traveled to Japan as part of the first “Houses for Hiroshima” work team. Working with local Japanese students and volunteers, the group constructed four houses and a garden. The unusual project garnered local and international attention, and Ebony magazine sent a journalist to write a feature of Daisy Tibbs’ involvement.
In 1950 Daisy Tibbs returned to Seattle where she married Leonard Dawson and started a family. In 1965 she volunteered with Head Start, a pre-school program providing comprehensive services for economically and culturally disadvantaged children, and was soon hired on as an assistant teacher at Colman Elementary School. Dawson worked her way up, eventually becoming the director of the Seattle Public Schools Head Start Program in 1971. She also served as president of the A & S League of the Principals Association of Seattle Public Schools, Sunday School Superintendent of Madrona Presbyterian Church, and was also a member of the National Council of Negro Women and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. She acquired a Master of Arts and Education from Seattle University in 1982 before retiring in 1984.
Sources: Biographical sheet found in collection (Box 1, folder 1), Seattle Times Obituary, Columbia magazine, and BlackPast.org.
Materials related to the life of Daisy Lee Tibbs Dawson. Includes photographs, scrapbooks, newsclippings, plaques, correspondence, and other documents associated with Homes for Hiroshima, the Head Start Program, and the Delta Theta Sigma Sorority. Also includes personal letters, maps and other items.
No restrictions on access.
Creator's copyrights transferred to the University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.
Craig Dawson, Leonard Dawson, Jr., and Debra Dawson, 2017-07-10 and 2023.
Collection was processed in 2023.
Handwritten notes, interview notes, Trinity High School graduates booklet, ephemera
Sorority ephemera, photographs taken in the South Pacific, coins and paper currency of occupied countries in South Pacific, newsletters, clippings, awards given to Leonard Dawson
Photographs in this album are described below by [page].[photograph number]
Removed from original binding
Left to right, back row: unidentified man, Esther Fine, Emmamae Chandler, Daisy Tibbs, Voris Dawson, Mamie Chinn, 2 unidentified women; front row: Virginia Ondo, Yoshiko Fujimoto
Caption: "3 wks"
Caption: "Peter 12 wks"
Caption: "Carol - Jo - Diane," signed: ML and JT (Wright?)
Assorted photographs featuring Daisy and Japanese American family posed outside in snow in front of cabin or mountains
7 photos of Daisy and friends on skis, Daisy and companion standing outside in snow, young woman rolling snowball, couple standing outside Friends House in snow
Man with car, young man in navy uniform, woman on steps in front of house, baby in photography studio (All unidentified)
Daisy Tibbs seated in center
2 photographs of group of women in formalwear (Daisy in front row), Pledging prayer typed card
Outdoor skiing, pebble beach with driftwood, people sitting on beach
Photographs in this album are described below by [page].[photograph number]
Caption: "Biggest Buddha in Japan [illegible] Can hold 6 people"
Caption: "Big bell 10 [illegible] to tap it"
Images of shrines, temples, deer
Envelope, 4 tickets
Roster of Japanese and American volunteer names, occupations, hometowns
Caption: "1st Day in Japan (sightseeing)"
Caption: "One of the houses and Japanese Gardens (Japanese style lantern). Part of group who helped build"
Caption: "Asleep--Japanese bed in tatamie [sic] (mattress called futong [sic])"
Photo taken by Ebony magazine
Caption: "Listening to the radio just before bed"
Photo taken by Ebony magazine
Caption: "Letters home--tatamie [sic] room--Japanese table"
Photo taken by Ebony magazine
Caption: "Japanese bath"
Photo taken by Ebony magazine
Caption: "Eating with chopsticks. Japanese wedding kimono"
Photo taken by Ebony magazine
Caption: "Cooking on hibachi. Fan to keep fire going"
Photo taken by Ebony magazine
Caption: Shopping for vegetables Sumiko and me"
Photo taken by Ebony magazine
Caption: "Roundtable discussion--Hiroshima Printing Press"; Daisy Tibbs, Emery Andrews, Ruth Jenkins, Floyd Schmoe and Japanese staff
Photo taken by Ebony magazine
Caption: "In church--sad"
Photo taken by Ebony magazine
Caption: "Ruins of Methodist Church done by A-Bomb, Willie Togoshu (?)"
Photo taken by Ebony magazine
Caption: "Honolulu Newspaper came aboard--Representatives of different groups brought us leis"; Floyd Schmoe, Emery Andrews, Ruth Jenkins, Daisy Tibbs, and others
Caption: At Hiroshima Printing Press"
Caption: "Miajima [sic] Tomoko and me"
Caption: "Sumiko in hat, rest sites area on boat for Americans"
Caption: "Miajima [sic]"
Caption: "Peace memorial in back"
Newspaper clipping in Japanese with translation
Caption: "At Hiroshima Printing Press. Andy, Pinkie, Floyd, me, Tomiko, Linda, past and 2nd vice presidents. Beautiful gardens--nice buildings all since the war."
Caption: "Floyd working on house. Examples of bamboo lacework. On left mud plaster."
Caption: "Mud plastering--Floyd"
Caption: "Floyd and 6th graders"
Caption: "Sixth grader interviewing us. Linda, Nasie (?) brought them over."
Caption: "Way to haul lumber etc."
Caption: "House"
Caption: "[Illegible] truck in Kube [sic] August 5th [illegible] in back. On way to station"
Caption: "At station"
Caption: "Near Kaba--3 miles to beautiful sight. Camped overnight"
Caption: "Kaba--lifeboat"
Caption: "Wading--Kaba Yasuko, Sumiko, Tomiko"
Caption: "Tora Miajima [sic] --went swimming"
Caption: "Street--Hiroshima Yasuko, Kokochan and me"
Caption: "Tanimotosan, Kokochan and me"
Caption: "1 house we built--roof first Floyd and Koya"
Caption: "Miajima [sic] Station"
Caption: "Miajima [sic] Temple--beautiful flowers and pagoda in background"
Caption: "World Peace Center--Hiroshima Castle. Floyd, Kokochan"
Caption: "Atom bomb monument site; Picnic"
Caption: "No more Hiroshimas Hiroshi and Andy"
Caption: "Sakamoto in front of our living quarters Nagaragawa Church"
Caption: "Japanese Garden in Asano Park--waiting for Norman Cousins, Tanimoto-san, me, Sakamoto-san, Pinkie, Floyd, Andy"
Caption: "Luncheon for Norman Cousins and us. Asano Park. August 1949. (Cousin's editor of Saturday Evening Review of Literature in U.S.A.) Me, Mrs. Tanimoto, Mr. Cousins, Floyd, Pinkie, Sakamoto."
Caption: "Real Japanese Luncheon of soup, eel fish, shrimp, rolled cabbage, mashed potatoes, rice, watermelon, cider. Mrs. Tanimoto, Mr. Cousins, Floyd, Pinkie"
Caption: "Breaking the ground for Peace Center of the World--Hiroshima. Dr. Asano and family, Cousins, Mrs. Tanimoto, Floyd, mayor of Hiroshima and Governor. Hiroshima Castle August 1949"
Caption: "Bathing the patient; Dr. Asano, me, Pinkie (bathing), Andy (pulse), Nakayama (the patient)
Caption: "Giving the patient a shot--Fujita giving it, me, Andy; Floyd, Dr. Asano--Patient Nakayama
Caption: "Miss Hiroshima, August 6, 1949"
Caption: "Hiroshima Memorial Hospital Aug, 1949," Daisy, Ruth, Emery in back row
Caption: "Fujita (head nurse), Patients Room 2 T.B."
Caption: "Nurses aides Yasuko, Dr. Asano head doctor, Pinkie, me"
Caption: "Neighborhood center, little girl with doll on her back (called Onbu style) as mother carries her baby"
Caption: "Mrs. Kora's Home--on doorstep. (We visited for 2 nights) Andy, Makiko, Mrs. Kora, Pinkie, Floyd, maid, Miyoko
Caption: "Peace Center of atomic bomb--Center of atomic bomb 1945, Tomiko, me, Pinkie, Andy, Jiro"
Caption: "Alcatraz, S.F. Bay region"
Caption: "Bay Bridge July 17, 1949"
Caption: "May Floyd Pinkie Me"
Caption: "Honolulu--lei around my neck, G. Gordon"
Caption: "Fire drill on board G. Gordon and deck in life guard"
Caption: "During fire drill lowering a lifeboat"
Caption: "Diet Building (Capitol) Impressive, large, Mrs. Kora"
Caption: "Me Toto Japanese Garden"
Caption: "Neighborhood center--children of the community"
Caption: "Peace Day '49 Festival--Buddhist priest (August 6) Head of Nara Temple"
Caption: "Hiroshima Peace Festival Aug. 6, 1949 special guest pin"
Articles from the Chugaku Newspaper and Evening Hiroshima with photos of Daisy, Ruth and Floyd
Photo features Floyd Schmoe, Emery Andrews, Ruth Jenkins and Daisy Tibbs with caption
Hawaii Times article in Japanese, with typed translation overlaid
Correspondence, photocopy of 1950 Ebony magazine article "Mission to Hiroshima," photograph of Dawson shaking hands with Japanese man, ephemera related to Houses of Hiroshima exhibit and Schmoe House, Crosscut article "Seattle's 60-year bond with Hiroshima"
Hardcover book with photographs
Paper written for Education 580 D
Pages removed from binder album featuring photographs of students, field trips, news clipping
Loose photographs of school field trips, social events, Daisy Dawson's retirement party (removed from album), clippings, certificates, correspondence
Loose scrapbook pages of clippings about church's history and reconciliation, program, correspondence
School photo, house photos in Japan, unidentified children, portrait of Yasuko
Paper written for History of the Pacific Northwest History 264
Plaque text reads: presented to Daisy Dawson, President, Administrative and Supervisory League in deep appreciation by the members
Presented by Seattle Public Schools Head Start for 20 years of service
Plaque text reads: In recognition of and appreciation for outstanding service and dedication to the Seattle Public Schools Principals Association of Seattle Schools June 12, 1987
Golden Life Member of Delta Sigma Theta, Inc.
China mapped with Japan and adjoining countries, and a map of the Solomon Islands.
White muslin embroidered with names
"Mission to Hiroshima" article features Dawson in Japan in 1949