A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans/Biography/Albert Dickens

For seventeen years Albert Dickens has been connected with the Department of Instruction in the Kansas State Agricultural College at Manhattan, and as professor of horticulture is a recognized authority in that field, not only in Kansas but throughout the Middle West.

Though not born in Kansas, Mr. Dickens has lived in the state for the past forty years and is thoroughly familiar with its general agricultural conditions and its people. He was born at Anoka, Anoka County, Minnesota, October 24, 1867. When he was nine years of age his parents came to Kansas and in 1876 settled on a farm near Sterling, Rice County, where they were pioneers. William and Sarah (Ridge) Dickens, his parents, were natives of England. They came when young with their respective parents to the United States. They were identified during their early married life with the northwestern frontier in Minnesota and afterwards were industrious and capable farmers in Rice County, Kansas.

Reared on a farm, Albert Dickens had to make the best of his advantages, limited as they were. An older sister gave him much encouragement and assistance in his studies as a boy, and he also attended the country schools. After an examination he entered the Kansas State Agricultural College in January, 1890, and was graduated Bachelor of Science in 1893. Mr. Dickens has been connected with some form of educational work for nearly a quarter of a century. He taught in the public schools and at the same time carried on graduate studies in the Kansas State Agricultural College. In 1901 that institution awarded him the degree Master of Science.

In 1899 he was made an instructor in the Kansas State Agricultural College, being assistant in horticulture. Since 1901 he has held the chair of horticulture and has been head of the department in the college. He is widely known among the fruit men of this state, and has made his department a valuable co-operating factor to the individual fruit growers.

He is a member of the American Pomological Society, the Society of Horticultural Science, and the Kansas State Horticultural Society. He belongs to the fraternities Phi Kappa Phi and Alpha Zeta, and is active as a Mason, being past master of his lodge and also a member of the Royal Arch. In 1898 he married Bertha Kimball, who is also a graduate of the Kansas State Agricultural College. Their children are: Elizabeth, William, Richard K. and John B. Dickens.