Note:  Dorty gave several programs in the mid-1990’s at Fort Massachusetts at the behest of the local Keepers of the Pledge organization to commemorate the African-American soldiers stationed on Ship Island and to help inspire minority kids to strive harder in school.

1. How long have you been giving these types of programs?

Murry Dorty has been giving reenactments and presentations concerning the African-American experience in military history since 1994.  His areas of interest extend from the Revolutionary War to post Civil War to World War II.   These portrayals include Louisiana Native Guards, Buffalo Soldiers and Tuskegee airmen.  (A friend made available the use of an authentic WWII era uniform belonging to the friend’s father).  Audiences have witnessed his programs across Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Massachusetts,
the western United States and South Africa.

Concerning South Africa, he had the good fortune to work before audiences including one with former President Nelson Mandela.  Dorty says he was very surprised at the amount of knowledge his audience had of American history.  When discussing the topic with the then president, Murry quotes Mandela as saying it’s to be expected since everyone wants to come to America so we study your history.

2. Do you have a central theme as you give your various programs?

Dorty says his hope is to connect the dots from present day experiences of his audience members to those experiences of the past and their ancestors.  He states, “I’m letting them know that history isn’t made by just famous people, but by people just like you and me.”

Murry declares that he doesn’t want people, especially kids to get lost in the titles.  That’s his euphemism for what happens when someone opens a history book that concentrates strictly on the leaders of an event or era.

He often states, especially to children in his audiences, that so often the outcome of events depends upon the actions and decisions of the common person.   “Individuals made these great things happen.  They made the same sacrifices and decisions you have to make today.”

3. Are your programs/presentations something individuals and groups from different backgrounds can possibly benefit?

Dorty’s interest in encouraging children to work to improve themselves brings up another interesting point.  He believes that his programs are for everyone and not just specific groups.  What he talks about is universal.  “We’ll talk about Ship Island and the Louisiana Native Guards, but what they went through is common to the struggles we all go through in our lives.”

Murry believes in making this a personal experience for his audience.  “I want a person listening to me to be able to identify what I say.  I want that person to say to him or herself that he’s talking to me.”

4. What kind of satisfaction do you derive from giving programs?

Immense satisfaction is his response when asked this question.  “History has always been an interest.  It’s also been a calling.  Doing this is also an opportunity to give back by putting someone in touch with their past.  As a public historian, I feel if I do this in the right way it may not change the big picture, but may change someone in a small way by getting that person to do research, and carry it on.”

“For children, I want them to know two things.  First, they can make history right now.  No one was born famous.  Second, their choices can make them famous or infamous. They can always turn their life around.  Make the right choices right now.  These are the same choices that people who came before them have had to make.”

5. How does Dorty approach his audiences?

Dorty works with groups from several dozen to several hundred.  If the students are kindergarten through grade 3, the format will be that of storytelling combined with student participation.  For middle school students, it is less storytelling; more motivational and speaking directly to what kids are dealing with at this particular point in their lives. For high school students, the content is motivational, connecting the “dots” bringing history home to them.  It is his intention to show that the knowledge of the struggles of our ancestors is a tool that they use to overcome the problems they face today.

He also doesn’t sugar coat anything.  “I make sure I tell the whole story.  It’s not my story, it’s not your story—it’s our story.

One example is when Dorty talks about the African American troops on Ship Island, and the prisoners that they had to guard during the 1860’s.  “There may be two different perspectives that we have to try to understand and help heal.  We have to try to break through the myths. You want to make sure to tell both sides of the story.”

Another example is when he discusses the Buffalo Soldiers patrolling out west during the latter 1800’s.  He touches on modern misconceptions such as the belief that African American soldiers and Native Americans always got along.  “To believe this,” Dorty suggests, “is to believe that Native Americans were more forgiving and readily excepted the mistreatment heap upon them by Black infantrymen and troopers because they were also people of color".

6. Could you give a brief personal biography?

Now living in California, Dorty was born in Yokohama, Japan of U.S. military parents.  Now in his mid-40’s, Murry points out that his love for military history comes from his mother.  While his father, a very quiet person of mixed Apache heritage, was in the United States Army, his mother served in the United States Air Force.

Laughing, he mentioned that his mother was an opera singer for the Air Force when not working as an administrative assistant—including during the mid-to-late 1950’s for General Omar Bradley.

Originally from Alexandria, Louisiana, Dorty’s mother was quick to use the advantage when catching any of her seven children busy playing at soldier. She’d point out to her son that there were other armies, “I’d always play at being an American, but when I came indoors she would always test and quiz me after seeing me play.”

Today, he credits these moments for developing his respect for the talents of various military leaders, including Robert E. Lee, a better understanding for why wars were fought, and acquiring the discipline to talk about both sides of an issue.

During the mid-1990’s, he worked at the Fort Jackson Historic Site near Savannah, Georgia.  Working as a Cultural Affairs Officer for the City of Savannah in 1996, Dorty coordinated the first festival—the Forsyth Festival—to include Civil War re-enactors from both the North and South.

Murry Dorty has a degree in history from Grambling State University and served with the U.S. Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment.

To contact Murry Dorty, call: 818 788-5831 (home) or 818 634-1107 (cell phone).

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