Margaret Burroughs was born
in St. Rose, Louisiana, on November 1, 1917, and moved with her family
to the South Side of Chicago in 1922. Burroughs studied at Englewood High
School and also attended George Neal's art classes. Her earliest involvement
in political activism began when she and classmate Gwendolyn Brooks joined
the NAACP Youth Council. She studied at Chicago State and became an art
teacher at DuSable High School. She married fellow artist Bernard Goss
in 1939, and their coach-house flat became a social center, dubbed “little
Bohemia,” for a wide and interracial circle of friends and colleagues.
Burroughs worked tirelessly to establish the South Side Community Art Center
which opened in 1940 and became the youngest member of its board.
She also studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and received her MFA in
1948. During her travel to Mexico she studied at the Esmerelda School of
Art and Taller de Grafica under Leopoldo Mendez, a prominent printmaker
of the Diego Rivera circle. The Mexican muralists use of social commentary
inspired her work. Burroughs worked in many mediums, showing special facility
in water colors and linocut print-making. She is also an accomplished poet
and author of children's books. In 1961, with second husband Charles Burroughs,
she founded the DuSable Museum of African American History in Chicago.
The linocuts on this display were donated by the artist during her visit
to Oakton on March 14, 2008. Margaret Burroughs died Sunday, Nov. 21, 2010
Margaret
Burroughs works are on display at the Des Plaines Campus in the balcony
above the museum, and in the Skokie Campus near the cafeteria. |
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| Margaret Burroughs signing
the linocuts at Oakton on March 14, 2008 |
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