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SIS in LEADS joins two Spelman alumnae — Bara Parks Ballard, C'86, and Tamara Webster-Bridges, C'91, in celebrating the 101th birthday of their grandmother, Mrs. Ella Victoria Dorsey.

Affectionately called “Ella V” by family and close friends, Mrs. Dorsey was born with an extraordinary ear for music. If she heard a song, she could play it by ear on the piano. At the age of eight, she was playing the “pump organ” in her home and at her church. Although she was very gifted at playing by “ear,” her father engaged a music teacher in the area to teach Mrs. Dorsey to read music.

For more than forty years, she was pianist at Lindsay Street Baptist Church; and for ten years she served as the organist at Emmanuel Baptist Church. At the age of 101, she keeps up her skills by playing the organ in her home.

Born in Woodstock, Georgia on October 14, 1908, Mrs. Dorsey was named "Woman of Wisdom" in the SIS Oral History Program during the 2008-2009 academic year; and interviewed by alumna Alicia Bello, C'2009. Excerpts of her life story will be included in SIS publications in 2011.

Photographer Tommy Burns captured the beauty and grace of Mrs. Dorsey in these photos, which will be housed in the SIS-In-LEADS archive.


Opening the Lens of Age, Celebrating The Transformative Power of Stories
Learn More About the SIS Program

"Truth is, I never thought I'd see the day when people would be interested in hearing what two old Negro women have to say." Bessie Delaney

With generous support from AARP, the Ford Foundation, The Andrew Johnson Vinings Foundation, the Emily Winship Scott Foundation, and the Dogwood Chapter of LINKS, SIS has archived more than 3000 hours of conversation between African American women elders of the South and Spelman students from across the disciplines.

SIS has also archived more than seventy-five memory stories of the Old South and the New South shared in brief interviews with women and men across different lines of race.

"It amazes me that you young women would want to give time to older people. This experience made me feel young over all over again."
Mignon Lewis, Woman of Wisdom in SIS

"You have asked me to talk about my life. You have given me joy."
Judia Mae Ferrell, Woman of Wisdom in SIS

Watch SIS Oral History Project overview featuring Mrs. Ann Nixon Cooper

"The world is made of stories, not atoms."
Muriel Rukeyser