I’m Dorothy Gray a third generation Adventist. My grandmother, Lillie Cobb, was a faithful member of
Berean until her death at ninety-three years old. She enjoyed setting up for weddings and made artificial
flowers to sell. She also made beautiful dresses for my sister to wear as she would sing on stage as the
late Graham Jackson would play the piano at a gathering place for whites only. They were allowed only
to enter through the kitchen and leave the same way.
As a child her mother and sister Cora were hidden in a church by the pastor in fear of being taken by
lawless slave owners. They had a brother, John Newton, who was a runaway slave that managed to
escape and was never found. My mother, the late Ethel Martin, would tell many stories of racial
injustice and how unfairly they were treated. The times were hard, but God saw them through.
Because of my parent’s love for Christian education, my brother and I were enrolled in Berean Junior
Academy in the basement of the old church on Ashby Street, now known as Joseph Lowery Boulevard.
It was there, and with the home training we received, the solid foundation was laid. I was baptized by
pastor H.L. Cleveland in 1963 who was the neighbor that brought me to church each Sabbath with my
two little boys. I taught in the Kindergarten Department for 26 years and retired from Egleston Children
Hospital after 29 years of nursing service. To God be the glory!