Margaret Taylor Burroughs (1915-2010) was an artist, activist, poet, and educator. She was born Victoria Margaret Taylor in St. Rose, Louisiana. Her father was a farmer and laborer at a railroad warehouse. In 1920, the family moved to Chicago and Taylor Burroughs attended Englewood High School. She earned her teacher’s certificates from Chicago Teachers College in 1937 and helped found the South Side Community Arts Center in 1939 in conjunction with the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to serve as a social center, gallery, and studio to showcase Black artists. She earned both a Bachelor’s in education in 1946 and a Master’s in art education in 1948, both from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She taught at DuSable High School in Chicago from 1946-1969, and from 1969-1979 was a professor of humanities at Kennedy-King College in Chicago. She also taught African American art and culture at Elmhurst College in 1968. She remained dedicated to the community and culture of the South Side of Chicago throughout her life.
She was married to the artist Bernard Goss from 1939 to 1947. In 1949 she married the poet Charles Gordon Burroughs, to whom she remained married until his death in 1994. In 1953, Burroughs studied printmaking and art in Mexico City under Leopoldo Méndez, a prominent printmaker of the Diego Rivera circle.
Along with her husband Charles, Burroughs co-founded what is now the DuSable Museum of African American History in Chicago in 1961. She served as executive director until she retired in 1985. She received an honorary doctorate from Rhode Island College in 1990.
Bernard Goss (1913-1966) was born in Missouri and moved to Chicago after graduating from the University of Iowa. He took classes at the Art Institute of Chicago and worked for the Illinois Art Project, a sub-project of the Federal Art Project, a branch of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). He was married to Margaret Taylor Burroughs from 1939-1947 and helped her establish the Southside Community Art Center.
Leopoldo Méndez (1902-1969) was a Mexican graphic artist whose work focused on the ideals of the Mexican Revolution and against the rise of fascism in the 1930s. He was born in Mexico City and in his adulthood founded the Lucha Intellectual Proletaria. He was heavily involved in leftist political causes, though he eschewed the spotlight in spite of being recognized as one of Mexico’s most influential artists.
The collection consists primarily of relief prints by Margaret Taylor Burroughs. It also includes artworks by Bernard Goss and Leopoldo Méndez, as well as papers related to RIC’s conferral of an honorary doctorate to Dr. Burroughs in 1990.
Researchers are advised to contact Rhode Island College Special Collections for questions regarding permissions to reproduce, distribute, or otherwise publish material from this collection. Although Rhode Island College has physical ownership of the collection, it does not necessarily hold literary rights. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the literary rights and to obtain any necessary permissions from them.
The collection is open for research. All items in the collection are on display on the third and fourth floors of Rhode Island College’s James P. Adams Library.
Margaret Taylor Burroughs collection, MSS-0143, Special Collections, James P. Adams Library, Rhode Island College.
The collection is arranged into two series:
Margaret Taylor Burroughs donated this collection of prints to the college in 2006.
The collection was described by Special Collections Assistant Anne Boylan in 2025.
Images of items in the collection are available through the guide,
The DuSable Museum of African American History in Chicago, IL holds art by Margaret Taylor Burroughs as well as archival material. Contact the
The series consists of relief prints created by Margaret Taylor Burroughs, Bernard Goss, and Leopoldo Méndez. All works in this series are on display in Rhode Island College’s James P. Adams Library.
This series consists of two documents in a shared frame, both related to RIC’s conferral of an honorary doctorate to Dr. Burroughs as part of its spring 1990 commencement exercises.