By Debby Woodin
dwoodin@joplinglobe.com
In the contentious civil-rights period of the 1950s and 1960s, the accomplishments of one man put Joplin in history’s limelight.
Marion Dial became the first black person in Missouri to be elected to a citywide or state office. Joplin voters elected Dial, the principal of Joplin’s all-black Lincoln School, to the City Council in 1954 from a field of 26 candidates.
Dial had earned the respect of voters from all walks of life because of his long-tenured standing as principal of the school, and his service in many community and civic groups.
The election was noticed throughout the Midwest, most notably in larger Missouri cities where black residents had not made many bids for public office.
The Kansas City Call, a newspaper for black readers, commended Dial and Joplin voters for the accomplishment, according to Betty Smith, a local resident who has documented the history of the black community in Joplin.
Under a headline, “Joplin Sets the Pace,” the Call reported in 1954 that Joplin “has shown bigger cities that it can be done. Joplin has elected an outstanding Negro citizen.”
The article continued:
“During 21 years that he has been principal in Joplin, Mr. Dial has become one of the most honored and respected citizens in that city. His election largely by white voters is proof again that America is coming closer to the day when ability and qualifications count.”
Dial was the inspiration for one of today’s Joplin City Council members, Jim West.
West said he was a pupil at Lincoln School the year Dial was elected to the City Council. West also knew Dial as the superintendent of Sunday school at the church West and his family attended, Unity Baptist Church, 615 S. Minnesota Ave.
“Mr. Dial was a very influential person on me,” West said. “He gave me the spirit for public service.”
Dial’s career
Dial was born June 27, 1903, in Chetopa, Kan. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Kansas State Teachers College, now Pittsburg State University.
He taught two years at Yale, Kan., and four years at Weir, Kan., before moving to Joplin in 1932 to teach and coach at Lincoln High School.
In 1933, he was named principal of the school, and he remained in that position until 1958. He also coached basketball and led the Lincoln team to numerous state championships.
“He was totally committed to each student to succeed and become the best citizen possible,” Smith said.
Dial was a member of the executive committee of the Joplin Teachers’ Association, and before that he worked for the cause of the education of black students. He was on the advisory committee for the study of black education in the state of Missouri. He was one of the organizers and the first president of the Southwest Missouri Negro Teachers Association and also was on the executive board of the state association.
Dial, by then, was so respected that he was called on to help Joplin school Superintendent Roi S. Wood lead the city through integration. Integration took place in Joplin without incident.
After that, Lincoln became the district’s special-education school, and Dial remained as principal.
He had been active with George Washington Carver National Monument and helped organize annual birthday celebrations commemorating Carver at Lincoln School. He also became employed by the National Park Service as a ranger historian at the monument and worked at that for 17 years. The first three Carver Days celebrations were held at Lincoln School, according to Smith’s records.
Dial retired in 1970 because of ill health and died in 1972. He is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Chetopa.
Accomplishments
Marion Dial was a 33rd-degree Mason and a Boy Scout leader. He also served on the advisory board of the Joplin Salvation Army.
