553 Rogers Ave 
1922 

Established in 1970 by Lawrence P. Dorsey, Dorsey's Fine Art Gallery is one of the oldest Black-owned art galleries in New York City. For over 50 years, it has showcased works by some of the nation's greatest African-American artists. Born in St. Louis, Dorsey attended LeMoyne- Owen College in Memphis, Tennessee, where he majored in journalism and was editor of the college newspaper. During World War II, he served as a supply sergeant and was stationed in Germany, before being honorably discharged in 1945. In 1953, Dorsey moved to Brooklyn and worked as a head waiter on a cruise ship, where he would begin collecting works of art. Upon his retirement, he bought a framing business located at this two-story brick building to open an art gallery, which fostered and displayed pieces by renowned artists like James Denmark, Jacob Lawrence, Ernest Crichlow, Ann Tanksley, Emmett Wigglesworth, Otto Neals, Elizabeth Catlett, and the late painter and illustrator Tom Feelings. The gallery also held an annual holiday art auction to raise funds for the neighborhood. Dorsey passed away in 2007. In 2011, a section of Rogers Avenue between Fenimore Street and Hawthorne Street was named after him.