IL HR1512

Dr. Margaret Burroughs, a longtime Chicago Park District commissioner, passed away on November 21, 2010.

Co-founded the DuSable Museum of African American History with her husband Charles Burroughs in 1961, beginning with about 100 items in their living room and growing to over 100,000 pieces in a Washington Park building.

Taught art for more than 20 years at DuSable High School and Kennedy-King College; helped establish the South Side Community Art Center in her early 20s and launched an art fair in the late 1950s.

Founded the National Conference of African-American Artists, taught art and poetry to prison inmates, and spent Christmas Day at Cook County Jail for 35 years with Reverend Jesse Jackson.

Received numerous honors including induction into the Chicago Women's Hall of Fame (1989), appointment to the National Commission on African-American History and Culture by President Jimmy Carter, the Paul Robeson Award, and the Legacy Award from the Art Institute of Chicago.