Elizabeth Delia Dixon-Carroll
Elizabeth Delia Dixon-Carroll, from the 1904 Yearbook of Meredith College
Born	February 4, 1872 Shelby, North Carolina, USA
Died	May 16, 1934 (aged 62) Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
Occupation	Physician
Spouse	Norwood G. Carroll

Elizabeth Delia Dixon-Carroll (February 4, 1872 – May 16, 1934) was an American physician, professor, and activist. When she started her practice, she was the only female physician working in Raleigh, North Carolina; she served as the first physician of Meredith College, where she also taught. Dixon-Carroll was active in the women's suffrage movement.^[1]

Life and career

Elizabeth Delia Dixon was born in Shelby, North Carolina, to Thomas Dixon Sr., a Baptist preacher, and Amanda McAfee Dixon.^[2] Her four surviving siblings included author and white supremacist Thomas Dixon Jr. and pastor and evangelist A. C. Dixon.

After attending public school in her hometown of Shelby, Dixon attended Cornell University. This was followed by graduate work at Woman's Medical College of the New York Infirmary, now the New York-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital, from which she graduated first in her class in 1895.^[1]

Following her graduation, Dixon met Dr. Norwood G. Carroll, a dentist; both began practicing in Raleigh. They were married in 1900; the couple had no children.^[1]

Dixon-Carroll, now using the hyphenated last name by which she would be best known, became a physician of Meredith College upon its 1899 opening. She remained in this position until her death in 1934. One of her most celebrated achievements was guiding Meredith through the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918–19 without a single student dying of the disease.^[1]

Dixon-Carroll was a leading figure in the women's suffrage movement in North Carolina. She helped found both the Raleigh Women's Club and the North Carolina State Federation of Women's Clubs, serving as the first president of each; directed the Samarcand Manor State Industrial Training School for Girls upon its opening; and was a regular speaker at state suffrage conventions.^[2]

Death

On May 15, 1934, Dixon-Carroll was involved in a serious automobile accident. She died in Rex Hospital in Raleigh the next day, May 16, 1934. She was survived by her husband, who lived until 1942.^[1]

Legacy

Dixon-Carroll left a complex legacy for her affects on women's suffrage, race relations, and charitable institutions during her lifetime. Her work as a pioneering female physician and suffrage advocate is tempered by some of her white supremacist views. In 1920, Dixon-Carroll delivered a speech in which she stated, "Not only would women suffrage give white control in Southern states a more permanent footing than now, but white supremacy will continue to grow, since the increase of white population is more rapid than the increase of colored population.".^[1] Yet Dixon-Carroll gained the admiration of some contemporaneous African American women who reported that Dixon-Carroll was "unlike her brother is helping all she can to raise the race and proclaim herself a sister to them."^[3] Her leadership of Samarcand Manor was also controversial, as allegations of squalor and abuse dogged the institution in the 1930s; Dixon-Carroll publicly dismissed the allegations despite their being verified by investigation.^[1] Thus, Dixon-Carroll's legacy and affect on social reforms of her time remain complex.

References