Owen V. Dodson

Unless otherwise noted, digitized items are from Emory University Stuart A. Brown Manuscript Archives and Rare Book Library Hatch Billops Collection

Owen Dodson was a graduate of Bates College, where he was elected to Phi Betta Kappa. He earned his Master of Fine Arts degree from Yale and honorary degrees from Lincoln University in Missouri and Bates. 

As Professor of Drama at Howard University (1947-1967), Owen Dodson directed the Howard Players both there and on tours, including a three-month tour of Norway, Denmark, and Occupied Germany. 

He later served as Chairman of the Department (1958-1967). He also directed drama at Atlanta University, Hampton Institute, Spellman College, Lincoln University, University of California in Santa Barbara, the Los Angeles Inner city cultural Center, at Theatre Lobby in Washington DC and in the Virgin Islands. 

Dodson's personal note card
March 18, 1964. Owen Dodson with Sidney Poitier in hallway of Department of Theatre Arts. Photo credit: Patrick H. Levenson, Art Dept. Howard University May 1963. Emory University Hatch Billops Collection
Owen Dodson at doors of Ira Aldridge Theatre. Photo credit: Patrick H. Levenson, Art Dept. Howard University May 1963. Emory Univeristy Hatch Billops Collection
(Above) Production shot from "Bayou Legend". Owen Dodson's adaptation of Ibsen's Peer Gant. Produced at Howard University in 1946. Photo credit: Robert McNeil Washington DC. 

1961 Dedication of Fine Arts Buildings: Ira Aldridge Theatre

Tributes to Owen V. Dodson

Early Howard University Productions

1949 European Tour Mamba's Daughters 

Owen Dodson's notes on the 1949 Norway trip! 

Sound of Soul written by Owen Dodson & Gary Keyes

On December 21, 1978, the College of Fine Arts sent a group of forth-three (43) persons (primarily students and three faculty members of the Department of Drama and the Department of Music) to St. Gallen, Switzerland to participate in the European premier of the musical Raisin, and to present a new show, Sound of Soul (by Owen Dodson & Gary Keyes). Before traveling to Europe, the Department of Drama produced Sound of Soul in Ira Aldridge Theatre Dec. 6 & 7, 1978. 
All images: Collection, Channing Pollock, "”Switzerland Project”" (1978). Accessed 2018.
All images: Collection, Channing Pollock, "”Switzerland Project”" (1978). Accessed 2018.
All images: Collection, Channing Pollock, "”Switzerland Project”" (1978). Accessed 2018.