Description:A seated Mr. Dickinson with a full handlebar moustache is wearing a dark suit, white shirt with light blue tie. His arms are resting on the chair arms and his hands are loosely clasped.
History:The portrait of Judge J.M. Dickinson by Louie Betts was formally presented to Peabody College for Teachers by J.M. Dickinson, Jr. on Founder's Day, February 18, 1939. The portrait hangs in the Wyatt Center for Education on the Peabody campus of Vanderbilt University.
Notes:Jacob McGavock Dickinson, was the son of Henry Dickinson, an Ohioan, and Anna McGavock, a Nashvillian. Enlisting in the Confederate cavalry at the age of fourteen, he served until the war's end at which time his family moved to Nashville. He graduated with distinction from the University of Nashville in 1871, receiving the M.A. degree the following year. After attending Law School at Columbia University, he studied at the University of Leipzig and the Sorbonne. Upon returning to Nashville, he became a highly successful lawyer and in 1876, married Martha Overton, daughter of John Overton. He served as the president of the Tennessee Bar Association, as well as the American Bar Association. Much of his legal practice was devoted to major railroads. He became chief attorney of the Illinois Central in 1899 and moved to Chicago. In 1909 he was appointed Secretary of War by President Taft. He was an avid sportsman: a hunter, fisherman, and horseman. He was also an avid supporter of Peabody College and served as a trustee from 1909 until his death in 1928.
