Dabney S. Lancaster

Dabney Stewart Lancaster (October 12, 1889 – March 11, 1975) was an American educator and government official. A native of Richmond, Virginia, he attended the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech and went on to serve as Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction from 1941 to 1946, as the president of Longwood College (now Longwood University from 1946 to 1955, and as the first head of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.^[1] In 1967, the state honored him by naming its new community college in Clifton Forge after him, and he died in Lexington on March 11, 1975.^[2] He was buried in Hollywood Cemetery.^[3]

Dabney S. Lancaster
Portrait of Lancaster, c. 1955
1st Chair of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia
In office August 21, 1956 – June 30, 1964
Governor	Thomas B. Stanley J. Lindsay Almond Albertis Harrison
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Sol W. Rawls Jr.
17th President of Longwood University
In office July 1, 1946 – July 1, 1955
Preceded by	Joseph L. Jarman
Succeeded by	Francis Lankford Jr.
10th Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction
In office September 1, 1941 – June 15, 1946
Governor	James H. Price Colgate Darden
Preceded by	Sidney B. Hall
Succeeded by	G. Tyler Miller
Personal details
Born	Dabney Stewart Lancaster (1889-10-12)October 12, 1889 Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
Died	March 11, 1975(1975-03-11) (aged 85) Lexington, Virginia, U.S.
Resting place	Hollywood Cemetery
Spouse	Mary Tabb Crump
Children	4
Education	University of Virginia (BA) Virginia Tech (MS)

While Lancaster was previously described as a moderate on racial issues, relative to his contemporaries, advocating for equal pay for white and black teachers, his support of race-based segregation in public schools during his career and the discovery of his involvement with the Anglo-Saxon Clubs of America, a white supremacist organization, prompted state officials to change the name of Dabney S. Lancaster Community College to Mountain Gateway Community College, effective 2022, in the wake of the George Floyd protests.^[4][5]