College Community
Hundreds of African Americans have worked on the Sweet Briar Plantation and, later, for Sweet Briar College. In some cases, families have worked for generatinos.
The photograph depicts one long-standing employee: Dorothy Sales (seated in the wagon) shown with her family around 1927. Dorothy's parents, Sterling and Aurelia Jones, worked for Sweet Briar for several decades. They lived in Sweet Briar's former "slave cabin" until 1924 (the year Dorothy was born). In 2003, Dorothy was honored for her 49 years of service to the College and named an honorary member of the graduating class of 1994 (the year she retired). On campus, the education department is housed in the Dorothy J. Sales Building.
