Doris Walker Woodson was reluctant when asked to be the community outreach coordinator for Maymont’s project to tell the story of the people who worked as domestic servants for the Dooley family that built and owned the 100-acre Richmond estate from 1893 to 1925.

But Ms. Woodson accepted. And today, 17 years later, she’s glad she did.

Maymont’s project became the exhibition, “In Service & Beyond,” that gives visitors an understanding of the people who kept the Dooley Mansion operating and made the family’s lavish lifestyle possible.

The exhibit also tells the story of Ms. Woodson’s family. Her grandmother, Frances Twiggs Walker, was head cook for the Dooley family, working in the basement kitchen from 1919 to 1925. Ms. Woodson’s mother, also named Frances, worked as an assistant cook.

Ms. Woodson was honored Dec. 1 by the Maymont Council with the 2016 Maymont House Benevolent Society Award, which recognizes individuals who have shown a distinguished commitment to advancing the cause of Maymont’s preservation.

Ms. Woodson was honored for her contributions in helping to develop “In Service & Beyond,” which opened in 2005, and her presentations to groups across Virginia offering an in-depth view of life at Maymont. She also organized two reunions for descendants of Maymont’s domestic workers, which were attended by more than 150 people from across the country.

Ms. Woodson’s volunteer efforts as community outreach coordinator were buttressed by her volunteer service for two terms on the Maymont Foundation Board of Directors from 2003 to 2009.

“Thanks to Doris’ contributions, the Maymont Mansion offers our guests a much richer, more insightful and more honest presentation of life in America’s Gilded Age,” said Dale Wheary, Maymont’s curator and director of historical collections and programs.

During the presentation, Ms. Woodson was extolled by Anne Innes, the Maymont Council president, as the “living link to the history of this special place.”

“My family did not talk a lot about their work for the Dooleys. Domestic work was not a source of pride,” says Ms. Woodson, an artist and retired professor of fine arts at Virginia State University. “But as I worked on the project, I began to appreciate my family’s hard work and contribution. I benefited from their work,” she says.

Meet this week’s community volunteer and Personality, Doris Walker Woodson:

Latest honor: Recipient of 2016 Maymont House Benevolent Society Award.

Work I did before retiring: Professor of fine arts at Virginia State University for 30 years, retiring in 1991.

Date and place of birth: Jan. 13 in Richmond.

Current residence: Westminster Canterbury Richmond, a retirement community.

Education: Bachelor’s of fine arts, Xavier University, and master’s of fine arts, Virginia Commonwealth University.

Family: Four sons, Bernard R. Woodson III, Wayne E. Woodson, Gerald A. Woodson and Gregory B. Woodson; 15 grandchildren; and 22 great-grandchildren.

Meaning of award to me: I am very honored and very humbled.  This honor was one of the highlights of my life. It was so unexpected! I was so nervous, I practiced what I was going to say several times. But just before it was time for me to speak, I forgot all of it.

My role in Maymont’s “In Service & Beyond” exhibit: As the outreach coordinator, I traveled around the city and the state giving verbal presentations about the history of Maymont’s servants. I reluctantly accepted at first because my family’s history of domestic work was not always a source of pride. But I learned to appreciate their contributions because my family was doing the best they could do and I benefited from their work. I went to boarding school at St. Francis de Sales, a Catholic boarding school for girls in Powhatan County, and later to college.

How long I served as the Maymont exhibition’s community outreach coordinator: I started helping with the project in 1999 before serving as community outreach coordinator from 2001 through 2009. I also served two terms on the Maymont Foundation Board of Directors.

How many members of my family worked for the Dooleys: Seven. My grandmother, Frances Twiggs Walker, was head cook, and my mother was her assistant. Five of my mother’s brothers and sisters worked there as well.

What positions did they have: I’m not exactly sure, but I know they were domestics. We called it working in “private family.”

Why I decided to organize a reunion for descendants of domestic workers employed by the Dooleys: Maymont wanted to have the families come here, so we had a reunion. Whole families of descendants from all over the country — and as far away as California — came. We have something in the works for another reunion next year.

Why I became a professor: I really enjoyed teaching, which was a surprise because I never wanted to be a teacher. The way the times were back then, it was very difficult for African-Americans to do something professionally unless they worked for other black people. I look back on my years at Virginia State University fondly. I also worked as an adjunct professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, taught some at Richard Bland Community College and at my home. I also worked with visiting artists at Richmond Public Schools high schools, and I taught at Westminster Canterbury for eight years.

Teaching philosophy: I tried to push my students in a direction where they would go into teaching or into an industry somehow working with art. Quite a few of my students went into teaching.

Favorite artist: Georgia O’Keefe because I like nature and how she did something different with flowers and vegetables that exaggerated their organic qualities.

How I start the day: Sometimes I exercise a little bit and make a smoothie. Right now, I’m working on my memoirs with pictures.

Person who influenced me the most: My aunt, Hannah Kenney. I loved her dearly and lived with her sometimes. She told me one day that I was a bundle of sunshine, and at age 13, that was the first thing I heard someone say about me that was positive. When she said that to me, it was like she was saying, “I love you.”

I place top value on: My children and the rest of my family. My children are the diamonds in my life. All I ever wanted was to be a mother. I place my greatest value on them.

The best things my parents ever taught me: My mom was a single mother and I was not allowed to live with her at Maymont. So I moved around a lot, from living in boarding homes to living with family members. When I was a teenager, my mother decided to send me to boarding school. I did not like the idea, but I built some great memories there. The experience taught me to value my education and hard work.

My next goal: My only bucket list wish is to have my four sons, 15 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren all together at one time.