Vernon Dobson

Reverend Vernon Nathaniel Dobson (October 29, 1923 – January 26, 2013) was a Baptist minister and civil rights activist in Baltimore, Maryland.

Early years Vernon Dobson, the son of Rev. Spencer Dobson and Mrs. Estelle Cook Dobson, He attended Howard University and earned a Bachelor of Divinity degree. Rev. Vernon Dobson was married to his wife, Napoleon B. Dobson, for over 60 years. They have six children together.

Ministry In 1958 Dobson was named assistant pastor of Union Baptist Church in Baltimore. He became the pastor of Union Baptist Church in 1963, and served in that role for 39 years. His predecessor, Rev. Harvey Johnson, was present at the founding of the Niagara Movement and of the NAACP. Dobson was twice elected the president of the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance in Baltimore. In 1998, The Baltimore Sun published for the first time the names of all the people arrested during the protests, and Dobson's name was found on the list.

In 1968 Dobson founded the Union Baptist Church Head Start Program. He was one of the founders of Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development (BUILD) in 1977.

Reverend Dobson worked with many of the legendary civil rights activists of Baltimore, including Walter P. Carter, Parren J. Mitchell, Rev. Marion Bascom of Douglass Memorial Community Church, Sampson "Sam" Green, Rev. Wendell H. Phillips of Heritage United Church of Christ, Chester Wickwire, and Samuel T. Daniels, Sr. of the Prince Hall Masons.

Dobson's brother, Rev. Harold Dobson, was the first president of Baltimore's branch of Opportunities Industrialization Center, (OIC). OIC was founded in Philadelphia by Rev. Leon Sullivan.

Dobson was the co-host of Look At It This Way, a community affairs television show on WBAL-TV in Baltimore. Co-hosts included Samuel Thornton Daniels, Sr. and Homer Favor.