Dedrick, Verna Mae, 1930-2020
Biography
Verna Mae Owens Dedrick was born in Waterloo, Iowa, in 1930 to Remus Owens and Henry Lou Moore. She was raised by her maternal grandmother, Lula Moore. Verna Mae Owens married Wilbert Dedrick in 1946. The couple had one son, four grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, and four great-great grandchildren. In the 1960s, Verna Mae Dedrick worked as a housekeeper for several white families in Waterloo. She did housework for five to ten years before joining her husband in his private janitorial service. Beginning in the 1960s, Dedrick became more involved in the church, eventually attending ministry school. Dedrick was ordained as a local elder in 1989 and was appointed pastor in 1999. Through 2005, she traveled to Sioux City to pastor the Malone A.M.E. Church. She was also a chaplain at Allen Hospital and a member of Payne Memorial A.M.E. Church. Reverend Verna Mae Dedrick died in 2020 at the age of 89. Biographical information found in Dedrick’s obituary as published in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier.
Found in 1 Collection or Record:
Dedrick, Verna Mae, 2011-01-29
Verna Mae Dedrick’s interview focuses on her work as a housekeeper for several white families in Waterloo, Iowa, in the 1960s. Dedrick recalls her experiences cleaning and providing occasional childcare for $1.25 per day, a rate she insisted on despite the typical pay of $1 per day. Dedrick remembers having friendly relationships with the families she worked for and not experiencing some of the discriminatory treatment that African American domestic workers in the South did, such as not being permitted to use the front door or the bathroom.