Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 1, 1992 TAG: 9202010237
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT LENGTH: Medium
FRANKLIN ART CENTER HONORS OLD FRIEND
Dorothy D. Phelps loved art as a child, but her parents nudged her toward something more practical, like mathematics.Phelps became a teacher and taught math in segregated schools for more than 30 years before she decided to follow her heart.
She earned a master's degree in art and pioneered the fine arts program at Franklin County High School. She was department chairman when the school's Fine Arts Center opened in 1975.
The building will be dedicated in Phelps' memory during a 10 a.m. ceremony today.
Friends say that Phelps, who died in 1989, would have been pleased to have a building named after her, particularly on a campus where blacks could not attend until the 1960s.
"I'm sure that she would be very honored," said Mary Helm, a friend.
"She would have said, `I don't deserve it.' She was not one to put herself out front. She just loved people and wanted to please everyone."
Phelps earned a bachelor's degree from Bluefield State College and began teaching in Patrick County in 1938.
She also taught in Franklin County and Martinsville before returning to Franklin County in 1958. She taught math and science at Franklin County Training School, an all-black institution now known as Lee-Waid Elementary.
Students recall her kindness, patience - even in the midst of teen-agers who couldn't seem to grasp algebraic equations.
"I don't remember her at any time being unkind to anyone - and she certainly had the opportunity with us in her class," said Mae Roy Ramsey, now a guidance counselor at Benjamin Franklin Middle School in Rocky Mount.
Phelps was married to Waid Phelps, the owner of a dry cleaning business and the first black elected to Rocky Mount Town Council. Dorothy Phelps served three years on council after her husband's death in 1985.
The couple had no children, so they "adopted" kids in the neighborhood.
"We were her children," said Bettye Buckingham, who works in the public affairs office at Ferrum College. "I guess all the kids around the neighborhood were sort of her children."
The Phelps home was decorated with Dorothy's artwork, quilts and crafts. "She made beautiful things," Buckingham said.
True to her first love, Phelps earned a master's degree from Wayne State University and began pestering school officials to allow her to teach art after Franklin County Schools were segregated fully in 1970.
"They finally said, `You can have one class of art,' " said Florella Johnson, associate superintendent of Franklin County Schools.
Phelps was teaching art almost full time when she retired in 1978.
She kept in touch with her former students and agreed in 1989 to edit a yearbook for a reunion of Franklin County Training Center students.
Phelps finished the book on a Wednesday and four days later suffered a heart attack that claimed her life.