Woman considered 'living history' honored in Rolesville

Desegregated facilities – “We couldn’t go to certain places and eat. Go in the back of the theater. You had to go upstairs.”

Integrated schools – “We didn’t go to school together. I didn’t ever go to an integrated school.”

The civil rights movement – “They were marching. Some were getting killed. Some were disappearing.”

Jones, 90, remembers when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.

“I was at the movies. And when we came out somebody was telling us that Dr. King had got killed.”

But on Monday, Jones became a part of Rolesville history when she received the town’s first Mayor's Senior Black Citizen Award.

“There were people in this room, people from all over the United States, that had told me things that Ms. Dorothy had done for them,” Mayor Frank Eagles said.

Jones was honored for her countless hours of volunteer work, helping care for children in her church, cleaning houses throughout the city, and being a mentor and open door for those in need.

Monday’s honor followed a proclamation recognizing Black History Month in Rolesville.

For Jones, she does her work for a simple reason.

“Because I love to do it,” she said. “I love people.”