Henderson remembered as storyteller, educator

Morgan City native Dolores Henderson, 85, a longtime educator and storyteller, touched many lives with her passion for helping people, especially children, in the community succeed, say those who knew her.
Henderson, who died Saturday in Baton Rouge, left Morgan City in 2011 to live with her daughter, Wanda Henderson. Over the years, Dolores Henderson was heavily involved in her sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha Inc. throughout her life, Wanda Henderson said.
Henderson retired in 1985 from the St. Mary Parish school system as a librarian. She last served as a librarian at Hattie Watts Elementary in Patterson. She worked in schools for 33 years. “She loved working with kids,” Wanda Henderson said. “One other thing she enjoyed was bringing artists into the community for the read-ins that were held in Morgan City, particularly at Shannon Elementary I remember,” Wanda Henderson said.
“She believed highly in integrating … because she was not allowed to go into the public library as a child. As an avid reader that really impacted her to know that she couldn’t go into the library,” Wanda Henderson said.
She attended Southern University and Morgan City Colored High School. Henderson helped implement a tutoring program for students in Brownell Homes and also started a children’s enrichment group to expose children to storytelling and other cultural events, Wanda Henderson said.
Dolores Henderson’s husband, Caleb Henderson, built a library on the back of the family’s home “so she could bring kids in all the time” for a children’s enrichment group, Wanda Henderson said. “The library was filled with books and musical instruments, artwork, you name it, games, so she had a revolving door of kids going in and out of the house all the time,” Wanda Henderson said.
When Caleb Henderson died in 1997, the family donated books to the Morgan City library in his honor. “My mom and my dad felt that it was important to try to offer scholarships to family members so they can go on to college or some type of schooling.” Therefore, the family did just that for students looking to attend either a four-year university or another high education institution,” Wanda Henderson said.
Dolores Henderson loved storytelling and received a master’s degree from the University of Southern Mississippi. She met lots of artists, who wrote children’s books, through graduate school. “That’s how she was able to bring many of them to Morgan City,” Wanda Henderson said.
One of her former students, James Valeau, developed a scholarship fund in her name for area students to be able to purchase books and uniforms, Wanda Henderson said.
Valeau, 69, a native of Patterson, first met Dolores Henderson when he was in the ninth grade at Hattie Watts High School. “She was our high school English teacher, librarian, counselor and just about everything else that we needed as students at that particular time,” Valeau said. “Ms. Henderson was a bright light, a glowing candle for the students at Hattie Watts High School.”
Valeau called Dolores Henderson an excellent teacher who knew her subject matter extremely well and held students to high standards. Due to her influence, Valeau became an English teacher, graduated from Southern University, earned a doctorate degree from the University of California at Berkley, attended the Harvard Institute for Education and Management and eventually became a college president, he said. “All of that was due to Mrs. Dolores Henderson. And I only represent the story of many,” Valeau said.
Valeau, who now lives in the San Francisco area, stayed in touch with Dolores Henderson “from the day that I graduated from high school until the day she died,” he said. Valeau served as president of Hartnell Community College and the College of Alameda, both of which are in California.
Valeau originally had no idea if he would be able to attend college, but Dolores Henderson asked if he wanted to attend Southern University and he said yes. So she got Valeau a $25 scholarship from the Morgan City Rotary Club, Valeau said. With that $25, she drove Valeau to Southern University and registered him into college, Valeau said. “Had it not been for her I would have never … gone to college at all,” Valeau said. Valeau is now the owner of an executive search firm, which searches for CEOs and presidents of colleges and universities, he said.
Muriel Manuel of Morgan City was on the St. Mary Arts and Humanities Council with Dolores Henderson and called her a “bridge” among the different groups in the community. Manuel remembers that Dolores Henderson went to Jazz Fest a couple times and told stories there.
Juanita Lagard, who knew Dolores Henderson through their sorority, served on various boards with her and both were affiliated with the United Methodist Church, Lagard said. “She was just so involved in so much in the community,” Lagard said. “She was just an all-around person who tried to help everyone regardless of age.” Dolores Henderson also told stories in the Children’s Village at the Shrimp and Petroleum Festival, she said.
Mary Hartman of Morgan City, who also worked as an educator and administrator, met Dolores Henderson when the two were neighbors on Hartman’s arrival to Morgan City.
Dolores Henderson’s love and dedication to children drew Hartman to her.
Hartman’s children participated in Dolores Henderson’s children enrichment program.
“She was just a person of service and just had a wonderful heart.
“Even in her time of illness, she was still loving and giving of herself,” Hartman said.
The St. Mary Arts and Humanities Council set up a literary fund, in Dolores Henderson’s memory, in order to make a donation to the Morgan City public library.
Anyone interested in contributing to the fund, may do so, Wanda Henderson said.
“She’ll be missed,” Valeau said. “I just loved her as a human being, loved her as my teacher, my mentor, my friend, my guardian angel, and to this day, whatever I’ve achieved is due solely to her influence.”
Visitation for Henderson will be Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. at the Camphor Memorial United Methodist Church 8742 Scenic Highway in Baton Rouge.
Her funeral will begin at 11 a.m. Friday. Entombment will follow at 10 a.m. Saturday in the Morgan City Mausoleum.

This story was written by Zachary Fitzgerald of The Daily Review staff. Reach him zfitzgerald@daily-review.com.