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Small woman took on big cause

A teacher of 38 years fought for equal rights even when it involved risk.

By JON WILSON
Published January 31, 2007

Dorothy Thompson knew firsthand what it meant to fight for racial equality. She started early in her 38-year Pinellas County teaching career, suing the School Board so that African-American teachers could be paid the same as white teachers.

This was in 1943, when Jim Crow ruled here and it wasn't safe to push hard for change.

Mrs. Thompson won her suit in 1945, incurring the wrath of school administrators, who transferred her from the old Pinellas High School near her Clearwater home to Jordan Elementary in St. Petersburg.

"Everyone knew it was my punishment," Mrs. Thompson told Heritage Village historian Ellen Babb in 1991. "At that time, it was not fashionable for a teacher to live one place and work another.

"Every day when I left here to go there, I thought about why I was going: because I was considered uppity for demanding my rights as a human being."

Mrs. Thompson died Jan. 26 at age 89. People who knew her recall her as a civil rights pioneer who feared no fight.

"She was an amazing woman, incredibly brave," Babb said this week of Mrs. Thompson, who stood less than 5 feet tall.

She gave birth to her only child in 1948 in the basement of a local hospital because people of color were not permitted upstairs.

Born in 1917 in Leesburg, Mrs. Thompson was 2 when her parents, both teachers, moved to Clearwater. She attended Clearwater Colored Junior High School, and because there was no high school for black students, went to a private academy near Ocala. She went on to earn a degree in health and physical education from Florida A&M, where she minored in English and biology. She studied at the University of Michigan for three summers to complete her master's degree.

"When I got here in 1971, Mrs. Thompson was a historical icon," said Randy Lightfoot, the school district's director of social studies.

In 1981, Mrs. Thompson opened a museum of African-American history in her home in Clearwater. It included memorabilia from black pioneers, tape recordings, art and a front yard plant display shaped to look like the African continent.

"I credit her with being the first person to bring out African-American history anywhere in the state of Florida," said Minson Rubin, who was one of Mrs. Thompson's students at Jordan Elementary and who also became a P.E. teacher.

Sandra Rooks, a former Pinellas County teacher who retired in 2000, rented her first apartment from Mrs. Thompson when she came to Clearwater. She said that knowing the older woman sparked her own interest in history. She went on to co-found another attraction, the Pinellas County African-American History Museum.

Mrs. Thompson held the title of Golden Soror in her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, signifying 50 years of service. Gloria Campbell, president of the sorority's Nu Beta Omega chapter in Clearwater, used to take Girl Scouts to see Mrs. Thompson's museum.

"She was part of our sorority's history. On her birthday, we would go visit with her and make sure our members knew about her," Campbell said.

The funeral is at 11 a.m. Friday at St. Matthews Missionary Baptist Church, 703 Seminole St., Clearwater.

Mrs. Thompson's museum closed years ago when she became ill. A sister plans to reopen it.

Information from Times files was included in this report.

[Last modified January 30, 2007, 22:19:46]