Gertrude Dorsey Brown

Gertrude Dorsey Brown (August 1, 1876/77 – April 20, 1963) was an American author and poet who was born in Coshocton, Ohio. The majority of her career focused on writing columns for magazines, but she also published short stories and poems. Her printed works, which appeared from 1902 to 1907, were mainly fictional, twist-of-fate narratives.

Family and early life

Family A decade before the birth of Gertrude Dorsey Brown, her father, Clement Dorsey, was one of the few survivors of a tragic collision of the Nannie Byers and C. E. Hillman steamboats on the Ohio River.

On October 14, 1869, Clement Dorsey married Martha Johnson, a widow. Martha had one daughter from her first marriage, Dora. Together, the Dorseys had six children: Effie, Isaac, Jessie, Gertrude, and two boys who died during infancy. Martha Dorsey assisted with her husband's business and helped establish a Seventh Day Adventist Church in Coshocton. During high school, Gertrude began publishing her writings for the first time in the Cleveland Gazette, America's longest-publishing African American newspaper, which was founded in 1883. The fictional story is about a romance between a 19-year-old young woman who obtains a position as assistant to the principal of her college and a 26-year-old school inspector. The couple's relationship almost doesn’t develop, due to missed communications and excessive attention to mathematical certainties and uncertainties. The romance examines the obstacles of misunderstanding, hesitation, and logic in relationships. While racial issues are evident, they appear as a background factor rather than the central theme in the story. “An equation” is an example of an early 20th-century African American short story that goes beyond mere protest or reportage to engage with universal themes, such as love, in a unique styles (in this case, using the language and metaphors of mathematics).

"Scrambled Eggs," a short story published in 1905, is set after the Civil War. In this story, a wealthy white man with racist beliefs discovers that his wife was unknowingly switched at birth. Her mother was part black, which means that his wife and children are all mixed race. Struggling with this new information, he shares the secret with his daughter Dora's fiancé, who decides that he still wants to marry her. However, the truth is revealed at their wedding, causing an uproar and scandal, since interracial marriage was illegal at the time. The rest of the story follows the family as they face conflicts and discover who truly cares for them. After deep reflection, Dora realizes they have been too focused on the shame that was brought upon the family, when in truth, their character and worth have not been changed. Moving forward, Dora decides to embrace her identity and live with pride and determination.

Brown also wrote poems, including "The Untold," which she composed when one of her sister's friends passed away.

Published works

The Equation, a short story published in the Colored American Magazine, August 1902 Scrambled Eggs, a short story published in the Colored American Magazine 8, January to February 1905 The Better Looking, published in Colored American Magazine 8, March 1905 Blood Money of La Petei, published in Colored American Magazine 9, October 1905 A Case of Measure for Measure,1906 The Voice of Rich Pudding, 1907

Marriage and children In June of 1903, Gertrude Dorsey married Orlando Hayes Brown of Zanesville, Ohio. Hays and Gertrude Christmas CardBrowns works were later anthologized by Elizabeth Ammons in the collection Short Fiction by Black Women, 1900–1920, published in 1991 by Oxford University Press, USA.

In 2017, a book club in Licking County, Ohio, gathered to discuss Brown's story "The Equation." The book club held a memorial service for Gertrude Dorsey Brown at the site of her unmarked grave in Cedar Hill Cemetery. A portrait of Brown is prominently featured in the mural.