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Honoring Black History — The Socialite Who Became Rich
Amanda Dickson Toomer beat all odds of Slavery.
Amanda Dickson Toomer
In my hometown, Atlanta, Georgia, there was an African American woman who became one of the wealthiest women of the 19th Century.
Amanda Dickson was born to a 13-year-old enslaved African girl and a white planter farmer. Her father was David Dickson, and he owned 17000 acres of land in the Atlanta area.
When Amanda was born, she was taken by her white maternal grandmother, Elizabeth Dickens. Mrs. Dickens taught her how to become a lady and socialite in her father’s class. Amanda lived a life of privilege, and when she came of age, she went to Atlanta University.
Atlanta University is a private black research University in Atlanta. In 1988, Atlanta University was combined with Clark College and is now Clark Atlanta University. It is now classified among “R2 Doctoral Universities-High research activities.
Amanda married her first husband at the age of sixteen. He was white and was her first cousin. The laws in Georgia forbid interracial marriage, so there is no record of the marriage. After four years of marriage, if there was a marriage — Amanda became unhappy and returned to her father’s plantation with her sons. They had two…
