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Clatonia Joaquin Dorticus

Cuban-born 19th Century NJ Photographer and Inventor

C.J. Dorticus emerged as a photographer in 1890 in Newton, NJ as one of the first Hispanic photographers to operate in the US. This presentation will provide an overview of Dorticus' life and career.

C.J. Dorticus, born in Cuba in 1863, emerged as a photographer in 1890 in Newton, Sussex County, New Jersey, one of the first Hispanic photographers to operate in the United States. During the 1890s, he did portraits and other types of photography in Newton, while obtaining eight patents for his inventions, including photographic equipment that he manufactured but also such diverse tools as a hose leak stop for fire hoses and a shoe color applicator.  At his death in 1903 at the age of 40, he was planning to manufacture his own electric automobile.  This presentation will provide an overview of Dorticus’s interesting life and career.

Gary D. Saretzky, archivist, educator, and photographer, worked as an archivist for more than fifty years at the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Educational Testing Service, and the Monmouth County Archives.  Saretzky taught the history of photography at Mercer County Community College, 1977-2012, and served as coordinator of the Public History Internship Program for the Rutgers University History Department, 1994-2016.  He has published more than 100 articles and reviews on the history of photography, photographic conservation, and other topics, including “Exceptional Cameraworkers: Early Black Photographers in New Jersey,” published in New Jersey Studies, the online journal.  Saretzky’s website at http://saretzky.com.

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