Dorothy Dandridge: A Portrait In Black (Part 2)

Dorothy thought of herself according to Mills as being less than capable, not productive, almost worthless.  The fact that she was able to give birth to a baby was a genuine miracle.

Dorothy with Harolyn - her most prized photo.

Dorothy refused to believe that Harolyn's brain damage was incurable  Dorothy felt guilty and depressed because she felt it was her fault that Harolyn was retarded.  That the mental disability was either due to her prolonging the labor waiting on Harold (that never showed up) and / or the use of forceps used on Harolyn's head to remove her from Dorothy.

Dorothy teamed up with Jacqueline Kennedy in later years in a concerted effort to help the retarded. At the request of the White House, Dorothy recorded radio messages on behalf of the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation along with Dale Rogers Evans, Bette Davis, Pearl Bailey and others.

with Harolyn and Ruby

For years the tragedy of a retarded child was a blot on Dorothy's life for many, many years.

Dorothy in very poor health (1962) was arranging her divorce and bankruptcy, a careless doctor dropped of Harolyn (age 17 with a mentality of a four-year-old).  Harolyn did not recognize Dorothy as anyone in particular; not even as her mother.

Dorothy had no money left for the private care of her mentally retarded daughter.  Lynn would have to be committed to a state institution.

In her divorce papers to Jack, Dorothy accused him of extreme cruelty, claiming he struck her on many occasions. During her marriage to him she started to drink heavily, take many kinds of pills, lose her health, lose her money, and become less and less successful in her career as each month passed by.