John Dale

Longtime resident John Henry Dale Jr. (1888-1973) was actively involved in the Anacostia community. Dale grew up on Howard Road and Nichols (now Martin Luther King Jr.) Avenue in Anacostia. He attended Birney Elementary and M Street High School, married Lucille Emma Patterson in 1907, and worked odd jobs before securing federal employment at the Government Printing Office and later the postal service. Dale was President of the Hillsdale Civic Association and was a practicing member of the Campbell AME Church where, according to his granddaughter, he “was everything…but the preacher.”

In 1977, the Anacostia Neighborhood Museum’s Board of Directors voted to include Dale’s portrait in “Phil Ratner’s Washington,” an exhibition honoring current and former Anacostia residents who contributed to the civic life of the community.