Dorothy L. Hart was one of 13 brothers and sisters, born September 9, 1905 to Lula Williamson and Guliford Butler. In 1922 she married Edward A. Thompson, with whom she had one daughter, Peggy Jean. The family operated the Wayside Inn Barbeque restaurant for several years. After Thompson died in 1936, Dorothy remarried in 1946 to Alvin E. Hart, who had a son, Judson Hart Sr., from a previous marriage.

The Harts worked for many years off and on at Salina, Kansas' St. John's Military Academy; Dorothy helped in the kitchen and served as seamstress, Al served as chef and later worked as night watchman. The couple also opened Al Hart's Barbeque for a few years, and later Dorothy started an alterations business.

Dorothy Hart was an active member of the Salina community, receiving distinguished service awards from the Salina National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) chapter, the Kansas Department on Aging, and the Salina Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) Community Service Award. She sang in the Harmony Maids Singing Quarter and was active in St. John's Baptist Church, holding membership in the Ladies Missionary Society and teaching Sunday School. Dorothy later sang in other choirs and was a founding member of the Salina Senior Citizens Minority Outreach Task Force.

In the late 1990s Dorothy Hart moved to Topeka to be closer to her daughter. She passed away in Topeka on January 1, 2011.