Macon Magazine

April/May 2025 | maconmagazine.com 91 STORY BY CLARENCE W. THOMAS JR. | PHOTOS BY MATT ODOM I n the pantheon of local activists and advocates, you will find Dr. Thelma Dillard—and rightfully so. She and her family paved a path of progress over several years, altering the city's trajectory and making Macon a more equitable and just place to live, work, and play. The following is a look at how Dillard rose to prominence as a civil rights leader and educator who put people and their needs first – establishing her as a true servant leader worth knowing. A C I V I L R I G H T S A C T I V I S T I S B O R N It's the early '60s, and 14-year-old Thelma Bivins and her older brother, Bert, are witnessing a life- altering moment on a segregated Macon transit bus, centered around their Kathleen-based elderly grandmother, Mary Jane Ross Newberry. As Newberry desperately digs for coins under duress – because of the impatient bus driver's demands to pay and sit in the back of the bus – Thelma, her mother, and her brother remember watching the elderly woman fall to the floor after the bus is suddenly jerked forward. Moments later, Thelma and Bert see their mother, Hester Lou Newberry Bivins, in tears after hearing their grandmother console her: "It's OK, Lou. I'm used to it." In a recent lengthy conversation with the woman now known as Dr. Thelma Dillard – the young teen on that bus now a mother herself – she shared that the experience marked the beginning of her mother's lifelong fight against injustice. "She was a quiet storm. Humble and kind. But she believed in what's right," Dillard said. Hester involved all her children at a young age in the struggle for equality, including Thelma, who went door-to-door as a grade school student registering people to vote. Their activism included the historic March on Washington, sit-ins, marches, the Martin Luther King Jr.-inspired Poor People's March, and picketing for the rights of Black people and others to eat at segregated lunch counters. The impact of their mother was also due to her resilience, faith, and focus. Dillard and her six successful siblings are the product of a single mother navigating discrimination on a maid's salary, with only an eighth-grade education. Dillard says Bivins – daughter of a sharecropper – was also a gifted musician, able to play the piano by ear, sing, and draw. She was a highly resourceful woman who made her children's clothing. Bivins placed a strong emphasis on education, says Dillard, and spent quality time developing a mastery of various subjects and imparting her skills to her children. "She had such an impact on my thought process and who I wanted to be. I loved how she carried herself. She carried herself like what she taught [us] – respecting and being of service to others. Mom taught us that it's more blessed to give than to receive," Dillard said. The desegregation of local schools came about because of a lawsuit filed by Bivins. Named after Dillard's sister, Shirley Bivins vs. Bibb County Board of Education, the lawsuit opened school doors to integration of all Macon students after Bert's successful fight to attend an electronics class at Dudley Hughes Vocational School. Bert had sent a letter to then U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy after being initially refused entry. This prompted the Justice Department to send the FBI to investigate Bibb County school board practices and ultimately overturn the local school board's decision. "My mother always felt that segregation and discrimination were wrong. So, she felt like she had to get involved," Bert said, when asked about his mother. "Our fight against injustice was a family affair. There was no discouraging any of us. We were L E G E N D A R Y S E R V A N T Dr. Thelma Dillard retired this year as a celebrated leader of civil, educational, and social rights—but she credits her trailblazing to a pioneer of her own: her mother, Hester Bivins. LEFT Thelma Dillard sits in her living room in midtown Macon.

• Cover