Dorothy Blackwell McNeil

Dorothy Blackwell McNeil (born Jersey City, 1950s) is recognized as a significant member of the Hoboken, Hudson County, New Jersey, community, especially for her co-ownership and management of Hoboken's Club Zanzibar (1961-1981) which hosted African-American entertainers.

Community recognition In 2006 the Hoboken Oral History Project published a chapbook entitled Recollections of Dorothy McNeil that includes photos of Hoboken, McNeil and her family, Club Zanzibar, and some of the entertainers who performed there. The interviewers for the oral histories, Bob Foster and Holly Metz, explain that interviewees are carefully chosen and, when the chapbook is finished, the Museum hosts an event to celebrate the "honoree." The Dorothy McNeil chapbook was ninth in a series that reached 33 volumes by 2020.

In 2010 McNeil was among 35 women honored by Hudson County (where Hoboken is situated) for having "made Hudson County history with their commitment and dedication to improve the quality of life in their communities."

In 2018 McNeil, along with fellow Hoboken celebrities photographer Dorothea Lange and sportswoman Maria Pepe, was honored by her home town with a large (150’ by 35’) mural on a commercial building's exterior wall. At the mural's unveiling Hoboken's then mayor, Ravi S. Bhalla, called the three women "trailblazers" who "made tremendous impacts on their community and the country.” and The Drifters. Frank Sinatra was among the white performers who appeared there; The Manhattan Transfer used the Zanzibar as their practice studio. Sterling Harrison was the last performer to appear before the Zanzibar closed in 1981.

As McNeil herself explained, the Club Zanzibar, which held 220 people, "was unique to the African-American community for two reasons": It stayed open one hour later than bars in nearby cities, so promoters wanting to get the most out of their acts would book them into the Zanzibar for that last hour, with patrons from elsewhere coming to Hoboken to enjoy the performances that often included stars from Harlem's Apollo Theater. Hoboken thereby hosted a larger range of popular acts than it would have otherwise. The second reason was that elsewhere women might be blocked from sitting at a bar, but they had free access into the Zanzibar because it was a club.

Charles McNeil regularly cashed payroll checks for workers coming in from nearby employers such as Maxwell House, the Post Office, and local truckers. As Dorothy McNeill explained, "Most people at that time (especially black people) did not have a relationship with the banks." The amount involved could be as much as $30,000-$40,000 per week. In return, people would buy at least one shot: "I have literally poured $1,000 worth of liquor at a dollar a shot ... in a night. And I didn't start to work until 6pm."

As an off-duty policeman Steve Capiello worked security at the Zanzibar before running for and becoming mayor of Hoboken.