The Dolores Alston Foundation
The Dolores Altson Foundation began in 2023 in honor of the late Dolores Alston who was a long-term and faithful member of Holy Trinity AME Church in Wilberforce, OH. There were two things Mrs. Altson loved—her church and college students!
Holy Trinity AME Church was dedicated at Wilberforce University as “The Church of the College” on July 14, 1863 by Bishop Daniel Alexander Payne. As a child Daniel Payne had a sense of being created to be an educator. As he grew older he believed education was the key to abolition citing the worst evil of slavery was the imprisonment of the mind. In Charleston, South Carolina the 19 year old, mostly self-educated, Daniel Payne opened a successful school for the formerly enslaved and their children. However, following Denmark Vesey’s failed slave revolt in 1822, in 1835 the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina passed law number 2639, prohibiting the education of African Americans, both free and enslaved. Payne had to close his school which caused him distress to the point of wishing himself to die. In a dream God showed Payne a territory where he would go to continue his mission.
Payne would land in Wilberforce, Ohio as a teacher at Wilberforce College, named for a British abolistionist William Wilberforce. The college was then owned and ran by the Methodists and housed more than 200 students—most of whom were the children of enslaved women and their enslavers. During the Civil War the college lost most of the students and the Trustees decided to close and sell the school. The now Bishop Daniel Payne led the purchase of the school by the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Bishop Payne would become the first President of the newly acquired Wilberforce University. The purchase made Wilberforce become the first independent, private liberal arts college to be owned by people of African descent and Daniel Alexander Payne became this nation’s first Black college president.
Until 1957 Holy Trinity ministered to Wilberforce students, faculty and staff as part of Wilberforce University. Due to growing space contraints, Dr. Rembrant Stokes (outgoing Dean of Payne Seminary & incoming President of Wilberforce) invited Holy Trinity to make their new home in the beautifully renovated Chapel of the Living Savior on the campus of Payne Theological Seminary where she continues to this day.
Holy Trinity has a great passion for college students and a great desire to see students succeed. Keeping with the mission of the AME Church (to minister to the spiritual, social and physical needs of all people), Holy Trinity chose to invest funds inheirited from Mrs. Alston to create the Dolores Alston Foundation (DAF) (501c3) as the arm of the church that will serve college students. The DAF Board is comprised of members of the congregation and community who are passionate about the life and health of college students.
Meet Mrs. Dolores Revely Alston
Mrs. Dolores Revely Alston was born July 17, 1933 in Stanford, Kentucky the daughter of Thomas and Dora (Evans) Revely. Mrs. Alston received a bachelor of arts degree in social welfare from Central State University in 1955. She was among the first students to receive a master's degree from Central State University in Elementary Education in 1965. She taught elementary in her hometown of Danville, KY, moving onto Cleveland, OH and then retiring from Xenia Community Schools after over 19 years as an elementary reading coordinator.
Throughout her career, Mrs. Alston received numerous awards including: Greene County Volunteer of the Year in 1998; Volunteer of the Year at the National Afro American Museum and Cultural Center 2000; National Right to Red Distinguished Service Award; and induction into the Greene County Women's Hall of Fame.She was a life member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha, Alumni member of Links Inc. Wilberforce Chapter, Executive member Friends for Payne Theological Seminary Support Group; Altrusa Club of Xenia and Holy Trinity AME Church; and the Xenia Red Hat Society, among others.
Mrs. Alston volunteered her services for many activities at Central State as well as Greene Memorial Hospital and the FISH Food Pantry; just to name a few of many organizations that she blessed with her time. Her contributions to Central State University are many, to include the John C. Alston Scholarship, established in memory of her late husband, as well as influencing many individuals to attend the University.you tell your story online can make all the difference.