Two Dorseys: Thomas J. and William Henry

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Apr 30, 2025

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ANECDOTE

Dorsey Brothers' Escape to Philadelphia

The Dorsey brothers escaped slavery and reached Philadelphia seeking freedom and safety.
Despite the city's racial hostility, they built new lives with support from abolitionists like Robert Purvis.

INSIGHT

Black Caterers' Business Rise

Philadelphia Black caterers led the emerging catering industry, transforming cooks into affluent businessmen.
Thomas J. Dorsey was a top caterer, credited with ruling Philadelphia's social world "through its stomach."

ANECDOTE

Thomas J. Dorsey: Caterer and Activist

Thomas J. Dorsey combined catering success with abolitionist activism, hosting John Brown's meetings.
He famously refused to serve disloyal Democrats during the Civil War, pointing to a Lincoln portrait as "the government."

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Thomas J. Dorsey liberated himself from enslavement and became one of the most sought-after caterers in Philadelphia. His son William Henry Dorsey was born a free Black man before the Civil War, and became an artist, collector and scrapbooker.

Research:

"Thomas J. Dorsey." Contemporary Black Biography, vol. 90, Gale, 2011. Gale In Context: U.S. History, link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1606005269/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=0c6af117. Accessed 2 Apr. 2025.
1838 Black Metropolis. “What Resistance looked like in 1838.” https://www.1838blackmetropolis.com/post/what-resistance-looked-like-in-1838
Aston Gonzalez (2019) William Dorsey and the construction of an African American history archive, Social Dynamics, 45:1, 138-155, DOI: 10.1080/02533952.2019.1589323
Berlin, Ira. "UNIVERSITY PRESSES; Scrapbooks of a Black Heritage." The New York Times Book Review, 22 Sept. 1991. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A175323797/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=cdf57532. Accessed 2 Apr. 2025.
Cashin, Sheryll. “The Agitator's Daughter: A Memoir of Four Generations of One Extraordinary African-American Family.” Public Affairs. 2008.
Conrad, Sharron Wilkins. “Nineteenth-Century Philadelphia Caterer Thomas J. Dorsey.” American Visions. August/September 2000.
Cromwell, J.W.C. “An Art Gallery and Museum, Not In the Guide Book.” New National Era, Washington D.C. 10/1/1874. https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn84026753/1874-10-01/ed-1/?sp=2&st=text&r=0.437,-0.008,0.25,0.231,0
Du Bois, W. E. B. “The Philadelphia Negro; A Social Study.” Philadelphia, Published for the University. 1899. https://archive.org/details/philadelphianegr00dubo/
Franqui, Leah. “Cultural Histories: Philadelphia’s Black Culinary Trailblazers and the Birth of Catering.” Solo Real Estate. https://www.solorealty.com/blog/cultural-histories-philadelphias-black-culinary-trailblazers-and-the-birth-of-catering/
Greenlee, Cynthia. “A Priceless Archive of Ordinary Life.” The Atlantic. 2/9/2021. https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2021/02/race-save-black-history-archives/617932/
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Lane, Roger. “Willam Dorsey’s Philadelphia and Ours.” Oxford University Press. 1991.
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Morehouse College. “Honoring a Forgotten Past: An Author’s Journey.” 2/15/2021. https://news.morehouse.edu/morehouse-faculty/honoring-a-forgotten-past-an-authors-journey
Solomon, Tessa. “How Two African American Collectors Celebrated Black Artistry Amid the Civil War.” ArtNews. 4/7/2021. https://www.artnews.com/feature/who-are-william-henry-dorsey-edward-thomas-19th-century-collectors-1234587386/
Still, William. “The underground rail road. A record of facts, authentic narratives, letters, &c., narrating the hardships, hair-breadth escapes, and death struggles of the slaves in their efforts for freedom, as related by themselves and others, or witnessed by the author; together with sketches of some of the largest stockholders, and most liberal aiders and advisers, of the road.” Philadelphia, Porter & Coates. 1872. https://archive.org/details/undergroundrailr00stil
Strimer, Steve. "Dorsey, Basil." Oxford African American Studies Center. May 31, 2013. Oxford University Press. Date of access 2 Apr. 2025, https://oxfordaasc-com.proxy.bostonathenaeum.org/view/10.1093/acref/9780195301731.001.0001/acref-9780195301731-e-38488
TerBush, James and Barbara Dreyfuss. “A Cape May Connection.” Cape May Magazine. Mid-summer 2021. https://www.capemaymag.com/feature/a-cape-may-connection/
The Evening Telegraph. “Caterers and Restaurateurs.” 3/30/1867. https://www.newspapers.com/image/78649823/
The Manuscript Society. “William Henry Dorsey: Preserving Black History.” 2/16/2021. https://manuscript.org/2021/02/william-henry-dorsey-preserviing-19th-century-life/
The Philadelphia Inquirer. 2/23/1875. Page 5. https://www.newspapers.com/image/168293006/
The Philadelphia Times. “William H. Dorsey’s African Museum.” 10/25/1896. https://www.newspapers.com/image/52857231/

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