Dorothy K. Harrison
In celebration of Black History Month, we are examining the contributions and history of African-Americans in Troup County.
So often, important people of color have slipped through the cracks of history. One of those people seemingly forgotten in the haze of history is Dorothy K. Harrison who was a champion of the local African-American community throughout a large portion of the 20th century.
Born in Greensboro, Alabama in 1890, Dorothy Harrison was educated in the Birmingham Public Schools before pursuing higher education at Mary Holmes Seminary in West Point, MS and the Tuskegee Institute. During her time at Tuskegee, she tasted public service for the first time when she was sent out by the school to take charge of an African-American infirmary. After graduation, she married J. F. Harrison, a railway postal clerk, and moved to LaGrange where she began serving at a hospital operated by the Good Shepherd Episcopal Mission in the southwest portion of town.
During the dark days of the 1918-19 influenza epidemic, Harrison saw the need for the establishment of a hospital for the local black community. She oversaw the establishment of a hospital at the Union Street School. During this time, she also worked as a teacher at the St. Elizabeth Mission School, where she would teach for 16 years.
In 1920, after the death of an elderly homeless woman, she saw the need for a home for the aged and established the Home for Aged and Elderly Negroes. Through her mother-in-law, she connected the Women’s Missionary Society of Warren Temple Methodist to help provide fundraising for this endeavor.
Dorothy Harrison had a penchant for anticipating the needs of her community. After two daughters of one of her former St. Elizabeth’s students died in a house fire after being left home alone, Harrison began to work on establishing a daycare for African-American children. She received help from Maidee Smith, a LaGrange College professor, to establish the nursery and soon brought many influential citizens aboard. The nursery was established in the old Union Street School building in 1944 under Harrison’s leadership. As a memorial to the pioneering college professor, the school was named the Maidee Smith Memorial Nursery. About ten years later, the school was furnished with its current building by the Callaway Foundation.
For her leadership, Mrs. Harrison was honored by the LaGrange Council of Church Women in 1962. Mrs. Harrison died in 1977 and she was interred in Southview Cemetery. The Maidee Smith Memorial Daycare Center continues to serve the children of Troup County.
The image shows Mrs. Harrison (center) standing between two teachers from Maidee Smith in 1962.
Lewis O. Powell, IV
