Dale, Edward Everett

Edward Everett Dale (1879–1972) was an American historian and longtime faculty member of the University of Oklahoma. He was a proponent of Frederick Jackson Turner's "frontier thesis" and is known as a major influence on the historian Angie Debo.
Dale was born on February 8, 1879, in a rural area called "Cross Timbers" near Keller,Tarrant County, Texas. Later his father had a farm in Greer County, Texas, where Dale lived in his youth. His mother died when he was five which left his father and an older brother to raise him. In 1892 the family relocated to Greer County, Texas. In 1896 Greer County became part of the Indian Territories (to become later, Oklahoma ) when the United States Supreme Court resolved a land dispute between Texas and Oklahoma over their common boundary. (Greer County's transfer from Texas to Oklahoma dramatically changed the course of Dale's life as later his first choice where to get a college education was now Oklahoma schools instead of those in Texas. ) Dale's early schooling was irregular. After his last attendance in grade school he was urged to sit for an examination that would award him a common school diploma. Attendance at a summer Normal Institute sponsored by Washita County gave him a certificate to teach school with the goal of earning money to buy calves for the ranch he and brother were trying to establish. After serving as schoolmaster at Cloud Chief and other small towns in the region he found that teaching agreed with him so he attended the Central Normal School at Edmond to strengthen his teaching credentials. A combination of summer sessions at the University of Oklahoma and later as full-time student gave him enough credits to graduate from the University of Oklahoma in 1911. Following a position as Superintendent of Schools in Blair, 1911–13, he decided a career at that level was not what he wanted. However in order to teach at the college level he would need to go to graduate school; thus at age 33 he applied for a scholarship to Harvard. A year at Harvard University earned him a masters degree in 1914 which was followed in 1922 by a doctorate from Harvard where Frederick Jackson Turner served as his thesis advisor. He started as an assistant professor of history at the University of Oklahoma in 1914 and remained there (except for two stints at Harvard, 1916−17 and 1919−20, working on his dissertation) until his retirement in 1952 as emeritus research professor.
(Wikipedia, 2014-08-19)