Mahala Ashley Dickerson (October 12, 1912 – February 19, 2007) was an American lawyer and civil rights advocate for women and minorities.

In 1995 the American Bar Association named her a Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement honoree.

The Dickersons were the parents of triplet sons: Alfred, John and Henri Christophe "Chris" (who became a well-known professional bodybuilder).

[1][2][5] Dickerson and Beckwith practiced together for a year before she opened her own law office in Indianapolis.She was especially interested labor and civil rights issues.

In 1953, for example, Dickerson petitioned the Public Service Commission to request that the commissioners deny approval of a local transportation company's requests for fare increases until the company agreed to discontinue what she argued were its discriminatory practices against bus drivers and trolley operators.

[10] When she passed the Alaska bar exam, she became the first African American attorney and one of only a few women practicing law in the state.

One of her most notable cases was an equal pay lawsuit filed on behalf of a female professor at the University of Alaska.

[11] She also served as chairman of the board of directors of the Marion County [Indiana] Colored Women's Republican Club.

In addition to serving as president of Dickerson and Gibbons, the law firm she established in Alaska, she founded Al-Acres, a charitable non-profit organization.

The American Bar Association also recognized Dickerson for her civil rights advocacy and legal career by naming her a Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement honoree in 1995.

[15] Dickerson's papers are housed at the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.