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Obituary

A lifetime of teaching ends

By EILEEN SCHULTE
Published January 30, 2007

CLEARWATER - Dorothy Louise Maxwell Thompson stood just 4 feet, 11 inches tall, but she cast a long shadow as an educator, museum curator and activist who fought discrimination.

Mrs. Thompson, whose lifelong interest in black history began as a teenager, died Jan. 22, 2007. She was 89.

"She loved God, she loved her family and she loved black history," said her sister, Bertha Crenshaw.

At 14, Mrs. Thompson spotted J.A. Rogers' column, "Facts About the Negro," in the Pittsburgh Courier. In it was a list of the many accomplishments of blacks through the ages. She was captivated.

Starting then, she devoted her life to promoting her African-American heritage. It was a mission that led her to take bold stands in a dangerous period in history for people of color.

As a teacher in 1943, she sued the Pinellas County School District seeking equal pay for blacks and whites. White teachers were being paid $105 a month, while black teachers made only $75 per month.

Two years later, she won.

In 1981, she founded the Dorothy Thompson African American Museum in Clearwater, which includes a collection of more than 5,000 books by African-American writers, audiotapes, art and artifacts from 75 black Pinellas County pioneers.

Crenshaw, 82, had been Mrs. Thompson's primary caregiver since she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease 81/2 years ago.

"She asked God to take her," said Crenshaw. "She wanted to go. She was ready to go."

Mrs. Thompson was born on June 3, 1917, in Leesburg to teachers Gilbert and Virginia Maxwell.

Her parents moved to Pinellas County in 1919, and Mrs. Thompson graduated from Clearwater Colored Junior High School in 1931.

Her father became the principal of the school, which later evolved into Pinellas Junior/Senior High School.

It was an inadequate facility with hand-me-down books used by whites and only one toilet for the girls and one urinal for the boys.

Because there was no high school for blacks in northern Pinellas County at that time, Mrs. Thompson's parents sent her to Fessenden Academy near Ocala.

She earned her bachelor's degree from Florida A&M University in 1937 and master's of science degree in physical education and health from the University of Michigan in 1947.

She taught for the Pinellas County school district for more than 37 years, and once headed the physical education department at Clearwater Comprehensive Middle School.

She was married to Egbert Heron Thompson Sr., who died in 1976.

During World War II, she taught first aid classes for the American Red Cross.

In 1974, Mrs. Thompson was named Outstanding Secondary Educator by the Secondary Educators of America. She was also one of the first Clearwater residents to become a life member of the NAACP.

"She was very outgoing," said Crenshaw. "She had a pleasing personality, but was firm."

Eight years ago, she started getting forgetful.

Even then, she was still feisty, said her niece Jackie Walker, 43, of Washington. "When she went to adult day care, she was still teaching," Walker said. "She did a presentation on African-American history."

In addition to her sister and niece, Mrs. Thompson is survived by a son, Dolbert L. Thompson Sr. of Clearwater; a grandson, Dolbert Thompson Jr. of Clearwater; and nine great-grandchildren. Her funeral is scheduled for 11 a.m. Friday at St. Matthews Missionary Baptist Church, 703 Seminole St., Clearwater.

When Mrs. Thompson was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, she shut down her museum, which was in a house she owned at 1501 Madison Ave. N.

Now Crenshaw is renovating it and plans to reopen it soon.

It is, she said, what her sister would want.

Eileen Schulte can be reached at 727 445-4153 or schulte@sptimes.com.

[Last modified January 30, 2007, 07:00:18]