Published: October 02, 2009 10:57 am      

Martha Draper room a just memorial to hometown hero

I've never liked the idea of someone having a building named after them, simply because they donated the money to create it.

You know what I'm referring to, those college facilities, community centers and other important structures bearing the name of some wealthy bigwig who said, 'I'll give you millions of dollars (that won't even make a dent in my bank account) to fund this construction, with the stipulation that my name, in big, bold letters, is the first thing people see when they come through the doors.'

Where is the charity in that?

But, the Martha Draper children's reading room that will be a part of the new Princeton Public Library is different. Funded in part by a $50,000 donation made by the Draper family after Martha's death in late 2007, that special room will soon be dedicated in honor of a one-of-a-kind woman who spent most of her life working to make the hometown she loved a better place, even when she had to fight that fight from the wheelchair in which she spent the last ten years of her life. I don't think anyone could question the appropriateness of such a permanent memorial in the facility that the longtime Mercer County teacher fought so hard to bring to this community.

I didn't have the privilege of knowing Martha Draper; she died before my time in Princeton began. But, in conducting interviews with some of the friends that knew her best this week in preparation for a story about the unveiling of a portrait that will hang in her room in the new library, I felt as if I came to know a little bit of the heart of one of Mercer County's most beloved citizens. And, oh, what a special heart she must have had.

As many Times readers know, a severe one-vehicle wreck that occurred in February of 1997 rendered Martha, then a second-grade teacher at Mercer Elementary, a quadriplegic. But the accident that would have left many of us with a depressed and helpless outlook on life somehow seemed to only inspire this determined community leader to do more with hers. From the wheelchair that she liked to refer to as her Porsche, Martha became a Princeton City Councilwoman, a member of the Princeton Community Hospital Board of Directors and a PCH volunteer, a classroom reading volunteer, and a devoted member of the Board of Directors of the Princeton Public Library.

“She did more than most people that have all their limbs and their health will ever do,” Princeton Mayor Dewey Russell said after her death.

And that, according to her friends and family members, was Martha: always doing, always caring, and always working toward the betterment of the world around her. Before the accident, her uncommon dedication to her students, affinity for fun and adventure, and the infectious smile that never seemed to leave her face endeared her to the people of Princeton. After the accident, her unbreakable spirit and her brave fight to continue making an impact on her community made for a lasting legacy that should serve as an inspiration to us all. When others far healthier and more physically able than her gave up and made excuses as to why things couldn't be done, there was Martha, pushing onward with the faithful determination of a survivor.

At Martha's own request, her good friend, Anne Seaver, read the following poem at her funeral:

“Somebody said that it couldn't be done,

But, she, with a chuckle, replied

That maybe it couldn't,

But she would be the one who wouldn't say so till she tried.

So, she buckled right in,

With a trace of a grin on her face.

If she worried, she hid it,

She started to sing as she tackled that thing

That couldn't be done,

And she did it.”

Throughout her lifetime, Martha Draper did many things that others said could never be done. And, soon, even after her death, she'll do more. From the wall of a room in a state-of-the-art library that she and others were so determined to make a reality in Princeton, her smiling face will look down, reminding us of the magnificent mark she left on our community.

Hopefully, as we visit that room and look up at that remarkable woman, we will all be inspired to live a little more like Martha.