Major Works
- Children of the River: A Romance of Old New Orleans (1928)
- Old Reliable in Africa (1920)
- Old Reliable (1912)
- Gabrielle, Transgressor (1906)
- The Ravanels (1905)
- Duke of Devil May Care (1905)
- She That Hesitates (1903)
- The Siege of Lady Resolute (1902)
- The Black Wolf’s Breed (1899)
- The Story of King of Cotton
- The House of Luck
- An Old Fashioned Senator
Biography
Harris Dickson was born in Yazoo City, Mississippi, in 1868. The family soon moved first to Vicksburg, then to Meridian, and finally settled in Jackson, Mississippi.
He attended the Summer Law Class of Dr. John Minor at the University of Virginia in 1891. He attended Columbian College (George Washington University) where he earned a bachelor of laws degree in 1893.
After graduation, he opened a law practice in Vicksburg. In 1905, he became a Municipal Court Judge.
Dickson wrote short stories and novels. Some of his work was published in the Saturday Evening Post. Some of his many books include the following: Siege of Lady Resolute, She That Hesitates, Children of the River, Duke of Devil-May-Care,The Story of King Cotton, and An Old Fashioned Senator.
Dickson’s most popular stories dealt with the adventures of a Reconstruction-era African American character from Vicksburg nicknamed “Old Reliable.” His tales of “Old Reliable” were published in two volumes, Old Reliable and Old Reliable in Africa and were later adapted for the stage.
Dickson served as a correspondent for Collier’s magazine during World War I, and in the 1930’s, he served as a technical advisor to the Work Projects Administration in Mississippi.
Dickson married Madeleine Metcalf of Louisville, Kentucky, in 1906. They had two daughters, Elizabeth and Madeleine. Harris Dickson died in Vicksburg on March 17, 1946.