Rodneywhite12

Early Life

Brown was born on August 1, 1876, in Coshocton, to Clement Dorsey and Martha Johnson Lucas. Little is known of her mother, but her father was born on December 25, 1839, and spent his young adult life working on farms and canal boats. When he was 27, he moved to Steubenville, OH, to work on steamboats and suffered a near-death experience when, one day, a boat he was working on sank. After passing through Newark to attend school and work in a barbershop, he landed in Coshocton County where he established his own barbershop. Industrious, Mr. Dorsey became a respected businessman and entrepreneur—even getting a patent for a special fly paper he invented. He was also the county's first Black juror. Following in her father’s hard-working footsteps, Brown grew up in Coshocton, and graduated from Coshocton High School in 1896—the only African-American student in a class of 11. She continually maintained honor roll throughout her years and was a member of the school’s Literary Society.

Brown had been a sales representative for the Black-owned Cleveland Gazette newspaper while in high school and continued this line of work when she moved to Newark as a representative for Colored American Magazine. Founded in 1900, it steadily became the most important national magazine for African-Americans in its prime, and a known platform for uplifting Black literature, history, culture, and social justice amidst the nadir of racist violence in the country.

Published Works

● Gertrude Dorsey Brown[e] / A Case of Measure for Measure

● Gertrude Dorsey Brown[e] / The Better Looking

● Gertrude Dorsey Brown[e] / Scrambled Eggs