Dr. Margaret Burroughs
On a chilly Saturday afternoon, a large crowd celebrated the life and legacy of Dr. Margaret Burroughs with a spirited ceremony that included naming 57th street after the founder of the DuSable Black Museum and Education Center.
It was an honor befitting a pioneer who was head of her time when she founded the DuSable Museum in 1961. She died in 2010 but her legacy lives on 64 years after the DuSable Museum was established as the nation’s oldest independent Black history museum.
On Saturday, March 22, cheers erupted as a permanent green street sign bearing Dr. Burroughs name was unveiled near the corner of 57th Street and Cottage Grove. Alderman Jeanette Taylor (20th) read a resolution that acknowledged Dr. Burroughs’ historic contributions to Chicago and the nation.
The three-hour event, which was sponsored by the DuSable Museum Women’s Board, included a live band, entertainment and food. Many people praised its co-founder and DuSable Museum chairwoman emerita Peggy Montes. After a close friend told her that no street was named after Dr. Burroughs despite her contributions, Montes in late 2023 used her influence to persuade Ald. Taylor to make that happen.
Before the street sign was unveiled, prominent elected officials gathered in the museum’s auditorium, where Montes spoke about her mentor and “surrogate mother” as she reflected on Dr. Burrough’s life and her impact on Chicago.
“A street naming is a continuation I have for the legacy of my surrogate mother, Dr. Margaret Burroughs. Margaret was my high school arts teacher.
“Many times, we forget the people whose shoulders we stand on. If it were not for them, many of us would not have [anything].
“I have a memory like an elephant, and I refuse to forget people who are a part of us. I don’t care what nobody says. I will always do what is right. I don’t care who’s for me or against me. I will always acknowledge those who have come before us and who have made it possible for me to build this Harold Washington wing for Dr. Margaret Burroughs.”
Alderman Jeanette Taylor, whose 20th Ward includes the DuSable Museum said, “I just remember learning as a young person in elementary school that my history didn’t start with slavery. Too often in our history books what does it say? Nobody ever told us we came from kings and queens until I came to this museum.”
Taylor recalled seeing Burroughs walking down an ordinary street on the way to her home on Michigan Avenue. Taylor said she was in a car with a friend who asked Burroughs if she wanted a ride home.
“She said ‘no.’ This is my community. This is my neighborhood. I can walk around. I ain’t scared. That one encounter with her always stuck in my mind. And then when I realized she was a person who came over the concept of having a museum that celebrates me and my Blackness, it just made it even better.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said, “All of you know I am a former history teacher. It’s important not only to study the past, but to make sure it lives on. Dr. Margaret Burroughs understood that better than anyone. When institutions failed to preserve Black history, she didn’t wait. She built a museum in her own home for Black artists to be seen and heard and make sure generations have access to the stories that shaped our history.”
Alderman Pat Dowell (3rd) noted that in addition to the DuSable Museum, Dr. Burroughs in 1940 founded the South Side Community Arts Center, which is in her ward, as well as her mansion at 38th and Michigan.
“Dr. Burroughs was an activist. She was an artist. She was a thought leader. She was an institution founder and sustainer.”
At the event, DuSable Women’s Board President Dr. Dell McFarlane presented CEO Perri Irmer with a $65,000 check.
Irmer said, “I’m so honored to be carrying on the legacy of Dr. Burroughs. It’s been almost 10 years since I took the helm at the DuSable and we’ve seen many changes, many positive [ones]. At this point in our history, we’re more important than ever. We are the first line of defense against those who want to erase our history, to rewrite it, to discount it, to keep people from being educated.
“I think Dr, Burroughs would be very, very proud of how far we come.
Cook County Commissioner Bill Lowry (3rd District), Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin, and City Clerk Anna Valencia also attended the ceremony.
Since her death on November 21, 2010, Dr, Burroughs’s legacy has been honored in several ways. In 2015, the 31st Beach was named after her. In September, a dinner at Washington Park’s refectory honored her life and legacy. Her gothic mansion is a Chicago landmark and on the National Register of Historic Places.
Born in Saint Rose, Louisiana on November 1, 1917, Dr. Burroughs moved north to Chicago in order to earn her Elementary Teacher’s Certificate, which she received in 1937 from Chicago Normal College. She continued her education first at Chicago Teachers College, and later, at the Art Institute of Chicago, from which she earned her B.A. in Art Education in 1946 and her M.A. in 1948.
At age 22, Dr. Burroughs founded the South Side Community Art Center, a community organization that serves as a gallery and workshop studio for local and national Black artists and students.
From 1939 to 1947, Dr. Burroughs was married to artist Bernard Goss. In the mid-1950s, she married a second time to Charles Burroughs, a poet and educator who co-founded the DuSable Museum with her.
After establishing the DuSable Museum on the ground floor of their Bronzeville home, it was moved to its current location, a former police precinct that served the Chicago Park District. The museum was originally called the Ebony Museum, but John H. Johnson persuaded Dr. Burroughs to change the name to avoid confusion with his iconic Ebony magazine.
Over the decades, the DuSable Museum has become an internationally recognized resource for African American art. It also hosts various educational programs and houses a permanent collection of more than thirteen thousand artifacts, artworks, and books.
Crusader Publisher Dorothy Leavell donated 150 portraits painted by Bernard Goss to the DuSable Museum in 1969.
Burroughs worked in sculpture, painting, and many other artforms throughout her career. For many years she worked with linoleum block prints to create images evocative of African American culture. Her work was featured in exclusive shows at the Corcoran Art Galleries in Washington D.C. and at the Studio Museum in New York. She served as art director for the Negro Hall of Fame and illustrated many books including What Shall I Tell My Children Who are Black?
In 1975, Dr. Burroughs received the President’s Humanitarian Award. In 1977 she was named as one of Chicago’s Most Influential Women by the Chicago Defender. The late Mayor Harold Washington designated February 1, 1986 as “Dr. Margaret Burroughs Day” in Chicago.
