Housing
- When he found the source of a polio outbreak in “stinky branch,” an open sewer in the Avery section in south Taylor, he found alternative housing for residents that could not afford to move. Meanwhile, the Federal Housing Authority and the city enclosed the sewer, razed the condemned homes, and constructed the first housing project in Taylor.
- If landlords raised the rent on buildings or houses, Dr. Dickey would pay them a visit. “Wherever I thought maybe they were robbing the Negro out of a little bit too much money, it wasn’t long before they would see me in their office to talk to them about it. ‘Don’t you think you are just taking a little too hard?’” He called it “antagonizing folks.”
- When landlords charged $10 per month for rent and the tenant fell behind, a local constable, Ned Fail, paid them a visit using both threats and violence to coerce the renters to pay. Dr. and Mrs. Dickey purchased 27 homes, fitted them with sewage and running water, window screens and solid walls, then rented them to people in south Taylor. If they fell behind, the Dickey's gave them a running tab. His renters paid when they could, in any way they could. When they paid in farm animals, he bought a farm and his friends helped run it.