Rudolph T. Anderson This is Me

 Web References

1. 1. Fayette Street history: Churches - Martinsville Bulletin

   www.martinsvillebulletin.com/a - [Cached]

   Published on: 10/15/2006   Last Visited: 10/15/2006

   Rudolph T. Anderson, a native of Farmville, arrived to pastor at Mt. Zion A.M.E. Church on Fayette Street in 1930. His tenure behind the pulpit at 304 Fayette St. would continue on and off for six decades, but his influence throughout the whole city cannot be underestimated.
   
   Not only did he serve as principal and teacher at East Martinsville Elementary School until the late 1960s and part-time chaplain at city hospitals, but his community service knew few boundaries: he organized Boy Scout troops, earning the Silver Beaver, the highest award for scout leadership; was an active member of the Elks, the Masons, the Knights of Pythias, the Chamber of Commerce; and pastored widely at other area churches including those in Fieldale, North Danville, Rocky Mount and Ferrum.
   
   A man of diverse talents, Anderson worked in his youth as a paperboy, delivery boy, bricklayer, a cook on a railroad, a steward on a steamship, a tobacco factory worker and an employee of an iron and bridge company out of Roanoke before coming to Martinsville.
   
   His academic studies took him to Dinwiddie Normal Institute, Kittrell College, Virginia State College and the University of Virginia.