SR1091LRB096 24554 KXB 44375 r

1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3learn of the death of Dr. Margaret Burroughs, a longtime
4Chicago Park District commissioner who started the nationally
5recognized DuSable Museum of African American History in the
6living room of her South Side home almost 50 years ago, who
7passed away on November 21, 2010; and
 
8    WHEREAS, She and her husband, the late Charles Burroughs,
9co-founded the DuSable Museum in 1961, and she was one of
10several artists and art supporters who 70 years ago started the
11South Side Community Art Center; and
 
12    WHEREAS, She was born in St. Rose, Louisiana, and moved to
13Chicago as a child; she attended the Chicago Teachers College
14and received bachelor's and master's degrees from the Art
15Institute of Chicago; she later received several honorary
16degrees; and
 
17    WHEREAS, She taught for more than 20 years at DuSable High
18School; she also taught at Kennedy-King College; in her early
1920s, she joined several others in starting the South Side
20Community Art Center; she set up a legendary salon in
21Bronzeville, which attracted the likes of sociologist W.E.B.
22DuBois and writer James Baldwin; she was unhappy that there

 

 

SR1091- 2 -LRB096 24554 KXB 44375 r

1were few places for black artists to showcase their work, and
2helped launch an art fair in the late 1950s at a shopping
3center at 35th Street and King Drive; and
 
4    WHEREAS, She and her husband later planted the seeds for
5what would become a thriving museum with about 100 items in
6their living room, calling it the Ebony Museum of Negro History
7and Art; today, the DuSable Museum, boasts a collection of more
8than 100,000 pieces in its Washington Park building; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Mrs. Burroughs also helped start the National
10Conference of African-American Artists; she taught art and
11poetry to prison inmates; for the last 35 years, she and
12Reverend Jesse Jackson spent Christmas Day at the Cook County
13Jail; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Mrs. Burroughs bowled and took up roller-skating
15in her 80s; in 1989, she was inducted into the Chicago Women's
16Hall of Fame; former President Jimmy Carter appointed her a
17member of the National Commission on African-American History
18and Culture; she won the Paul Robeson Award; most recently,
19Mrs. Burroughs received the Legacy Award from the Art Institute
20of Chicago; and
 
21    WHEREAS, Dr. Margaret Burroughs is survived by her son,
22Paul Burroughs; her grandson, Eric Toller; and three other

 

 

SR1091- 3 -LRB096 24554 KXB 44375 r

1grandchildren; therefore, be it
 
2    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL
3ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with
4her family, friends, and the many people she has inspired over
5the years, the passing of Dr. Margaret Burroughs; and be it
6further
 
7    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
8presented to the family of Dr. Margaret Burroughs as a symbol
9of our sincere sympathy.