2/19/2010 - Baptist Leader and Alumna plans to write memoirs

By Michael J. Brooks

 Distinguished Judson College alumna and former Georgia Baptist leader Dr. Dorothy Pryor has decided to write her memoirs. 

"My nephew is the instigator," she said with a laugh. "He told me he knew I traveled the world to learn about Baptist mission work, but he wasn't sure what I did when I got there! He said I need to write it down."

Pryor retired in 1991 after many years of service in the Woman's Missionary Unions of Alabama and Georgia. Her extensive traveling took her to mission fields in the U.S., South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. She is among Judson College's most distinguished alumnae and has been honored by the college over the years.

Pryor grew up in Decatur, Ala. and attended Central Baptist Church. Her pastor, Dr. Paul Roberts, was a Judson trustee and encouraged her to consider Judson.

At the college Pryor was named to the Dean's List, served on the SGA council and played hockey and basketball. She was also listed in "Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities."

While at Judson she worked in Vacation Bible Schools and Girl's Auxiliary summer camps.

She graduated in 1951 from the Carver School of Missions and Social Work at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, in 1955.

Intending to serve in international missions, possibly in China, she instead became a missions proponent in her homeland.

Pryor taught for two years after her Judson graduation at West Blocton High School, about 40 miles from Marion, while continuing her summer work with the Alabama Woman's Missionary Union. She became Young Woman's Auxiliary director for the Georgia Baptist Convention and later director of the Woman's Missionary Society before becoming Georgia WMU director in 1963. She retired in 1991.

Pryor has written teachers' guides, mission study books and entries for the "Dictionary of Georgia Biography" and "The Encyclopedia of Southern Baptists."

The Liberian Baptist Seminary announced in 1991 that a portion of its campus would be named the Dorothy Pryor Compound in recognition of her many years of encouragement and support.

Active in Wieuca Road Baptist Church in Atlanta, Pryor was awarded the "Bruce Batho Award" in 1999 recognizing her outstanding lay leadership in her church.

Pryor served as president of the Judson Alumnae Association for two years beginning in 1988 and received the "Outstanding Alumna Award" in 1992. She was commencement speaker at the college's 160th anniversary class in 1998. She established the "Dorothy M. Pryor Fund for Faculty Development" at Judson in 2005 and currently serves on the college's Board of Advisors.

The college awarded her an honorary doctorate in 1982 as did Tift College in 1983 and Mercer University in 1992.

"I loved my student days at Judson, and when I came here I know I was called of God," Pryor said. "In class they called me 'Miss Pryor' and they treated me as a person of worth and ability. They expected me to give my best. Judson College has done more for me than I can ever hope to repay."

Pryor said she doesn't plan to seek a publisher but has in mind writing her memoirs for family and friends.

But since she has an extended spiritual family and many friends, perhaps multiple copies will be required!

*Article courtesy of the Judson College Public Relations Department.

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