Connecting a newer MacBook Pro to an older Display

I used to plug my old MacBook (and prior to that, my old Pro tower) into a 2006 Cinematic Display that is still in great shape. When my apartment was robbed I had to get a replacement of MacBook Pro laptop, which does not seem to want to play nice with the monitor.

I purchased a new DVI to USB-C dongle. I have checked on another machine to ensure that the dongle works, and have checked the ports to make sure they are working on both devices. The display's original power source is still intact, and I have a light that indicates the display is receiving power.

I have read and watched all the tutorials I could find, but most people seem to eventually say that one thing or another worked for them that hasn't worked for me yet.

I have:

• Checked my device specifications to confirm that an external display is supported (it should be)
• Powercycled both devices twice
• Checked for system updates
• Tried multiple variations of unplugging and re-plugging devices.
• Holding down the option key on the display menu to show "Detect Displays" and still got nothing

The "Display" menu automatically leads to the built-in display options. Many tutorials mention an "Arrangement" tab that I cannot seem to get to appear, regardless of arrangement.

Am I doing something obviously wrong? Are these two devices somehow totally incompatible? It would be a real shame to lose the use of my nice monitor for an arbitrary reason, but I just can't seem to get my MacBook to acknowledge that a monitor is even plugged in.

Thank you for your time!