Meet Victor Jackson. The year is 1918 and Victor has no family. He’s an orphan at the Dorsey Home for Dependent Colored Children. You might say the cards are stacked against Victor. But he doesn’t mind…
Isabella and Thomas Dorsey started this orphanage in 1917 at their three-bedroom house on Dr. Samuel McCree Way near Reynolds Street. The orphanage quickly grew and moved to the Sea Breeze area, but a few white neighbors didn’t like having black children nearby. And so the Dorsey Home was forced to move to some farmland in Brighton (where McQuaid Jesuit High School is today).
Yes, the world should be a pretty frightening place for little Victor. But he doesn’t mind. He’s got his friends… That’s Eddie to the left of Victor. And Elizabeth & Charlie on his right.
These guys are Victor’s family. Good family.
He’s also picked up some skills along the way. For starters, he can carve a pretty awesome jack-o-lantern.
And all the kindness and care that Isabella & Thomas Dorsey have showed him will pay untold dividends. One day Victor Jackson will grow up to become the Recreational Supervisor for the City of Rochester.
Tags: African-American history, Brighton, Charlie Davis, Dorsey Home for Dependent Colored Children, Dr. Samuel McCree Way, Eddie Goode, Elizabeth, Halloween, Isabella Dorsey, jack-o-lanterns, McQuaid Jesuit High School, orphans, pumpkin carving, Reynolds Street, Rochester, Rochester NY, Seabreeze, Thomas Dorsey, Victor Jackson
This entry was posted
on Friday, October 18th, 2013 at 2:49 am and is filed under Rochester History, Rochester Images.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
not possible: “That’s Eddie to the right of Victor. And Elizabeth & Charlie on his left.”