William Henry Dorsey (October 23, 1837 – January 9, 1923) was an American bibliophile, artist, scrapbooker, numismatist, social historian and collector of Black history and art.

He was most noted for the 388 scrapbooks he compiled of newspaper and magazine clippings chronicling Black life in his hometown of Philadelphia and across the country during the 19th century.

[2] Thomas' catering business was so successful that he and his family lived a privileged lifestyle, owning a home on Locust Street, one of the premier addresses in the city, and other properties.

The articles and other items were culled from Black and white newspapers and journals in Boston, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, and elsewhere.

[19] "It was in the front room of the second story of one of those small but cosy homes of the many narrow streets of Philadelphia that we were ushered into a miniature museum and art gallery, the private collection of our old friend, Mr. William H. Dorsey, of that city.

Our surprise at what was in store for us was so unexpected and complete, and withal so pleasant, that we cannot resist the temptation to give the readers of the National Era an opportunity of realizing the same pleasure".

[19]Cromwell described in detail the variety of items that he saw, including a mosaic of the British Houses of Parliament; a landscape on the Hudson River, an oil painting on canvas only an inch and a half in diameter; Charlemagne in Italian marble and a piece of stair taken from the home of the artist Thomas Sully.

[13][19] He was just as impressed with Dorsey's collection of books, pamphlets, artifacts, musical compositions, artwork and engravings of prominent Black people, along with photos, autographed letters and facsimiles.

The books included the lives of African kings and scholars, Phillis Wheatley's poetry published in 1881 and "Sketches of the Higher Classes of Colored Society in Philadelphia" (1841).

Also included were the works of Africans Ignatius Sancho, Ben Solomon (Ayuba Suleiman Diallo) and Jacobus Capitein, all of whom managed to escape slavery and became great men.

Megargee noted much the same as Cromwell, but he also mentioned the scrapbooks, coins, canes, china, relics, and items relating to slavery and emancipation.

[1][13] Books, scrapbooks, artifacts, pamphlets, Native American relics (flints, battle axes, implements), guns and bayonets covered every surface.

There were also unusual items: parts of a girder from the Liberty Bell, a brick from Independence Hall and fragments from buildings erected for the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition in 1876.

Above the Bible hung a framed copy of the Boston Gazette from March 12, 1770, with an article about the death of Crispus Attucks, the first person killed in the Revolutionary War.

Naturally, in all these years, I have been an enthusiast in garnering anything and everything that had to me an intrinsic value; but the most careful work and best results", pointing to the shelves under discussion, which are so well filled with material respecting the colored man.

A writer named Box wrote a story for the Weekly Anglo-African of New York in 1860 about Thomas' collection, which included a Dorsey watercolor of an ancient tower in ruins.

The first national Exhibition of Anglo-Africa Industry and Art was akin to a world's fair, with steam engines and machinery, artwork, carriages and vehicles, furniture, cooking utensils, clothing and perfumes, and embroidery and needlework.

His paintings were apparently sold at some point, too, because Dorsey ended up with a Thomas bust created by white sculptor John Quincy Adams Ward.

The ANHS' purpose was to "collect relics, literature, historical facts in connection with the African race, illustrative of their progress and development".

[28][30][4][29][33] At its monthly meetings, the group offered a forum for presentation of scholarly papers and discussions pertaining to Black history, art, music, schools, industrialization and more, and these were open to the public.

Among the speakers were DuBois, Harper, Minton, Cromwell, Adger, Algernon B. Jackson, Alice Moore Dunbar, Mary Ardley Smith, Alain LeRoy Locke, Jessie Fauset, Caroline LaCount and Rev.

The organization received donations of books, pamphlets, autographs, pictures, programs and artifacts that were placed with Dorsey, who was its custodian and also a donor.

[41][4] In 1884, a correspondent for the New York Globe stated that Dorsey was one of two artists in an upcoming exhibition in New Orleans "whose paintings have secured them almost national fame.

[13] In November 1880, Dorsey exhibited with Henry Ossawa Tanner, Douglass, Duncanson, Bowser, Edward Mitchell Bannister and Alfred Stidum - known for his portraits in crayon - at the Working Men's Club of Philadelphia.

In 1884, he participated in the Progressive Workingmen's Club Fair, and in 1889, the Industrial Exposition of works by Black people sponsored by the Ladies Quaker City Association.

[4][42][43][44] In the spring of 1887, he illustrated a story for the Philadelphia Tribune about problems at Olive Cemetery, including neglect, flooding and falling stones.

He exhibited at several industrial fairs that were organized to raise money to help pay the debts of the Christian Recorder newspaper, whose focus was on news about Black people.

In her book "Reminiscences of School Life, and Hints on Teaching" (1913), Fanny Jackson Coppin told of the 1879 fair and contributions by such "well-known" artists as Tanner, whose father was editor of the paper; Douglass and Dorsey.

[4][45] In 1897, Dorsey and Jones, an ANHS founder and author, created a model for a monument to honor Octavius V. Catto, a Black activist and schoolteacher who was killed in 1871 on Election Day by a white man.

[4][47] Noting that the list was too short, Dorsey pointed to portraits painted by Douglass and Chaplin, and identified Bowser, Patrick Henry Reason, Duncanson, Bannister and Lewis, who had won praise at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition for her sculpture "The Death of Cleopatra".