Arthur Dorrington
*Arthur Dorrington was born on this date in 1930. He was a Black Canadian professional ice hockey player and Sheriff.
A Nova Scotia native, James Arthur Dorrington learned to skate when he was three and began dreaming of a professional hockey career “soon as I could figure out how to hold the stick.” Dorrington became the first Black hockey player to sign a National Hockey League contract when he joined the New York Rangers organization in 1950. He said he never experienced racism on the ice or in the locker room but was barred from staying in the same hotels or eating in the same restaurants as his teammates when his teams traveled south to Maryland and Washington.
Despite putting up very good statistics in the minor leagues, he could never make it to the major league ranks. Dorrington played for the Atlantic City Seagulls of the Eastern Hockey League. The organization said he was the Eastern Hockey League’s leading goal scorer from 1954 to 1956. After retiring from hockey, Dorrington became a Sheriff's Officer with the Atlantic County Sheriff's Office. Dorrington made Atlantic City his home for decades, becoming a familiar figure everywhere, from the municipal buildings to the athletic facilities.
He served as Atlantic City’s softball commissioner and an umpire for over 30 years. In the late 1990s, he created the Art Dorrington Ice Hockey Foundation, a program that teaches hockey to children from low-income families in Atlantic City. He died on December 29, 2017, at the age of 87. His daughter Judah Dorrington announced his death, saying he died peacefully at home surrounded by relatives.
