About Dawes Middle School

Charles Gates Dawes

Dawes Middle School was named after Charles Gates Dawes (1865-1951) Charles Dawes came to Lincoln, Nebraska at the age of 21. He spent eight years in the Capital city as a practicing attorney. From Lincoln he moved to Evanston, Illinois, where he entered business.

During his tenure in Lincoln he became a close friend of John J. Pershing who was on the ROTC staff at the University of Nebraska. This acquaintanceship was to prove profitable in later years.

Due to his tremendous success in the business world he became influential in the fields of banking and finance. This achievement led to his first major position of public service, Comptroller of Currency under President McKinley in 1897. He held this post until 1902 when he founded the Central Trust Company of Illinois.

In 1917, Mr. Dawes joined the Army and was given a commission as Major in the engineers. He was rapidly promoted to serving as purchasing agent for the American Expeditionary Force in France under the direct command of General John J. Pershing. After the war, General Dawes served as the first Director of the Budget under President Harding in 1921.

And here is the rest of his life in a more summarized form:

1923 Authored the Dawes Plan for Reparations which brought about the economic stability of Europe following World War I.

1924 Elected Vice President of the United States serving under President Coolidge.

1925 Awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace as the result of his Dawes Plan for Reparations.

1929 Appointed as Ambassador to Great Britain during the Hoover administration.

1932 Appointed the first chairman of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. - - - President and Chairman of the Board of the City National Bank of Chicago until his death in 1951.

Construction of our school building was begun in November, 1957 and completed in January, 1959. The first day of school at Dawes was September 8, 1958.