What I most remember about Sandra Dawson is that she always had a smile on her face and an upbeat attitude. Over the years, I encountered her at several conferences—the Berkshire Conference, of course, but also the Western Association of Women Historians (WAWH) Conference and the American Historical Association (AHA) Conference—and she was a consistently positive presence. When I first met her—at an AHA Conference, I believe—she was still in graduate school and insisted on addressing me as “Dr. Jellison.” Even after she had completed her own PhD–and even though she and I were the same exact age–she still playfully “deferred” to me and addressed me as “Dr. Jellison” whenever we encountered one another. It became our own little private joke. I will greatly miss Sandra as a colleague and conference friend.
Sincerely,
Katherine Jellison
Professor of History
Ohio University
