Margaret Taylor-Burroughs
Encyclopedia
Margaret Taylor-Burroughs (November 11, 1917 – November 21, 2010) was a prominent African American
artist and writer and a co-founder of the DuSable Museum of African American History. She also helped to establish the South Side Community Art Center, whose opening on May 1, 1941 was dedicated by the First Lady of the United States
Eleanor Roosevelt
. There at the age of 23 she served as the youngest member of its board of directors. Dr. Burroughs was a prolific writer, with her efforts directed toward the exploration of the Black experience and to children, especially to their appreciation of their cultural identity and to their introduction and growing awareness of art.
Dr. Burroughs is also credited with the founding of Chicago's Lake Meadows Art Fair in the early 1950s. At its inception there were very limited venues and galleries for African American Artists to exhibit and sell their artwork, so Dr. Burroughs launched the Fair, which rapidly grew in popularity and became one of the most anticipated exhibitions for artists, collectors and others throughout the greater Chicago area. After a brief hiatus beginning in the early 1980s, it was resurrected by Helen Y. West in 2005 - and another of Margaret Burroughs' legacies lives on.
, and by the time she was five years old the family had moved to Chicago
. There she attended Englewood High School
along with Gwendolyn Brooks
, who in 1985-1986 served as Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress (now United States Poet Laureate). As classmates, the two joined the NAACP Youth Council
. She earned teacher's certificates from Chicago Teachers College in 1936 and 1939, and in 1948 earned her Masters in Fine Arts from the Art Institute of Chicago
after having earned her Bachelor's there in 1946. Taylor-Burroughs married the artist Bernard Goss (1913–1966) in 1939, and they divorced in 1947. In 1949 she married Charles Gordon Burroughs, and they had been married for forty-five years at the time he died in 1994.
, a community college in Chicago. She also taught African American Art and Culture at Elmhurst College
in 1968.
in Chicago in 1961. The institution was originally known as the Ebony Museum of Negro History and Art and made its debut in the living room of their house at 3806 S. Michigan Avenue in the Bronzeville neighborhood on Chicago's south side , and Taylor-Burroughs served as its executive director for the first ten years of its existence. She was proud of the institution's grass-roots beginnings: "...we’re the only one that grew out of the indigenous Black community. We weren’t started by anybody downtown; we were started by ordinary folks..”
The museum moved to its current location at 740 E. 56th Place in Washington Park
in 1973, and today is the oldest museum of Black culture in the United States.
include a collection of fifteen of Burroughs' linocut prints from the 1990s .
Taylor-Burroughs won the Paul Robeson Award
in 1989.
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
artist and writer and a co-founder of the DuSable Museum of African American History. She also helped to establish the South Side Community Art Center, whose opening on May 1, 1941 was dedicated by the First Lady of the United States
First Lady of the United States
First Lady of the United States is the title of the hostess of the White House. Because this position is traditionally filled by the wife of the president of the United States, the title is most often applied to the wife of a sitting president. The current first lady is Michelle Obama.-Current:The...
Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international...
. There at the age of 23 she served as the youngest member of its board of directors. Dr. Burroughs was a prolific writer, with her efforts directed toward the exploration of the Black experience and to children, especially to their appreciation of their cultural identity and to their introduction and growing awareness of art.
Dr. Burroughs is also credited with the founding of Chicago's Lake Meadows Art Fair in the early 1950s. At its inception there were very limited venues and galleries for African American Artists to exhibit and sell their artwork, so Dr. Burroughs launched the Fair, which rapidly grew in popularity and became one of the most anticipated exhibitions for artists, collectors and others throughout the greater Chicago area. After a brief hiatus beginning in the early 1980s, it was resurrected by Helen Y. West in 2005 - and another of Margaret Burroughs' legacies lives on.
Early life and education
Burroughs was born in St. Rose, LouisianaSt. Rose, Louisiana
Saint Rose is a census-designated place in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, United States. St. Rose is on the East Bank of the Mississippi River two miles north of the Jefferson Parish, Louisiana border, and is part of the Greater New Orleans Metropolitan area. The population was 6,540 at the...
, and by the time she was five years old the family had moved to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. There she attended Englewood High School
Englewood Technical Prep Academy
Englewood Technical Prep Academy or sometimes referred to as simply Englewood High School , part of the Chicago Public School system, served the Englewood community on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois....
along with Gwendolyn Brooks
Gwendolyn Brooks
Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks was an American poet. She was appointed Poet Laureate of Illinois in 1968 and Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1985.-Biography:...
, who in 1985-1986 served as Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress (now United States Poet Laureate). As classmates, the two joined the NAACP Youth Council
NAACP youth council
The NAACP Youth Council is a branch of the NAACP in which youth are actively involved. In past years, council participants organized under the council's name to make major strides in the 1950s and 1960s Civil Rights Movement...
. She earned teacher's certificates from Chicago Teachers College in 1936 and 1939, and in 1948 earned her Masters in Fine Arts from the Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
after having earned her Bachelor's there in 1946. Taylor-Burroughs married the artist Bernard Goss (1913–1966) in 1939, and they divorced in 1947. In 1949 she married Charles Gordon Burroughs, and they had been married for forty-five years at the time he died in 1994.
Professional life
Taylor-Burroughs taught at DuSable High School from 1946 to 1969, and from 1969 to 1979 was a professor of humanities at Kennedy-King CollegeKennedy-King College
Kennedy-King College is a two-year community college in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is part of the City Colleges of Chicago, a system of two-year education that has existed in Chicago, Illinois since Crane Technical College began to accept adult students in 1911...
, a community college in Chicago. She also taught African American Art and Culture at Elmhurst College
Elmhurst College
Elmhurst College is a comprehensive private liberal arts college in Elmhurst, Illinois with a tradition of service-oriented learning. It has a rich affiliation with the United Church of Christ.- History :...
in 1968.
The DuSable Museum
Margaret and her husband Charles co-founded what is now called the DuSable Museum of African American HistoryDuSable Museum
The DuSable Museum of African American History is the first and oldest museum dedicated to the study and conservation of African American history, culture, and art. It was founded in 1961 by Dr. Margaret Taylor-Burroughs , her husband Charles Burroughs, Gerard Lew, and others. Dr...
in Chicago in 1961. The institution was originally known as the Ebony Museum of Negro History and Art and made its debut in the living room of their house at 3806 S. Michigan Avenue in the Bronzeville neighborhood on Chicago's south side , and Taylor-Burroughs served as its executive director for the first ten years of its existence. She was proud of the institution's grass-roots beginnings: "...we’re the only one that grew out of the indigenous Black community. We weren’t started by anybody downtown; we were started by ordinary folks..”
The museum moved to its current location at 740 E. 56th Place in Washington Park
Washington Park (Chicago park)
On December 6, 1879, former U.S. President Ulysses Grant took part in a tree planting ceremony in the park. A memorial boulder with a plaque commemorated the event. In the 1920s black semiprofessional baseball teams played at Washington Park...
in 1973, and today is the oldest museum of Black culture in the United States.
Public art and recognition
The holdings of the Koehnline Museum of Art at Oakton Community CollegeOakton Community College
Oakton Community College is a two-year community college with campuses in Skokie, Illinois and Des Plaines, Illinois. District 535 serves 450,000 residents in northeast Cook County, Illinois...
include a collection of fifteen of Burroughs' linocut prints from the 1990s .
Taylor-Burroughs won the Paul Robeson Award
Paul Robeson Award
An award bestowed by the Paul Robeson Citation Award Committee of the Actors' Equity Association.- Recipients :1974 Paul Robeson1975 Ossie Davis & Ruby Dee1976 Lillian Hellman1977 Pete Seeger1978 Sam Jaffe1979 Harry Belafonte1980 Alice Childress...
in 1989.
Selected works
- Jasper, the drummin' boy (1947)
- Whip me whop me pudding, and other stories of Riley Rabbit and his fabulous friends (1966)
- What shall I tell my children who are Black? (1968)
- Did you feed my cow? Street games, chants, and rhymes (1969)
- For Malcolm; poems on the life and the death of Malcolm X Dudley Randall and Margaret G. Burroughs, editors (1969)
- Africa, my Africa (1970)
- What shall I tell my children?: An addenda (1975)
- Interlude : seven musical poems by Frank Marshall Davis, Margaret T. Burroughs, editor. (1985)
- Minds flowing free : original poetry by "The Ladies" women's division of Cook County Department of Corrections, Margaret Taylor-Burroughs, editor (1986)
- A very special tribute in honor of a very special person, Eugene Pieter Romayn Feldman, b. 1915-d. 1987 - poems, essays, letters by and to Eugene Pieter Romayn Feldman Margaret T. Burroughs, editor (1988)
- His name was Du Sable and he was the first (1990)
- Africa name book (1994)
- A shared heritage : art by four African Americans by William E. Taylor and Harriet G. Warkel with essays by Margaret T.G. Burroughs and others (1996)
- The Beginner's Guide to Collecting Fine Art, African American Style Ana M. Allen and Margaret Taylor Burroughs (1998)
- The tallest tree in the forest (1998)
- Humanist and glad to be (2003)
- My first husband & his four wives (me, being the first) (2003)