Dorothy Thompson was a talented hand weaver from Tucker County. Born in Pennsylvania, she grew up in a coal mining family that moved often before settling in Arthurdale, a New Deal community in Preston County supported by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. There, Dorothy learned weaving in high school and sewed her own graduation gown, receiving her diploma from the First Lady.

Eleanor Roosevelt helped Dorothy study with a master weaver in Kentucky. After returning home, Dorothy married Ben Thompson and moved to Tucker County, where she raised a family and continued weaving. She began teaching in 1962 and taught hundreds of students over the next 40 years—first in schools and later in “Ben’s Old Loom Barn” on her property.

She was named a National Heritage Fellow in 2000, one of only a few West Virginians to receive this top national award for folk artists. She's remembered for keeping the art of weaving alive for future generations.