Founder of DuSable Museum dies

Margaret Burroughs, a main founder of one of the oldest African-American history museums in the country, died Sunday, said a spokesman for the DuSable Museum of African American History in Chicago.

The museum said Burroughs was 93. She died in her sleep at her Chicago home on Sunday morning, museum spokesman Raymond Ward said in a statement. Further details about her death were not immediately available.

President Barack Obama said in a statement that he and first lady Michelle are saddened by Burroughs' death. He said Burroughs was "widely admired for her contributions to American culture as an esteemed artist, historian, educator, and mentor."

"She was also admired for her generosity and commitment to underserved communities through her children's books, art workshops and community centers that both inspired and educated young people about African-American culture," Obama said. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to Dr. Burroughs' family and loved ones. Her legacy will live on in Chicago and around the world."

Burroughs founded the museum with her husband and others on Chicago's South Side in 1961. The couple housed collections out of their Chicago home for years before it grew into a larger museum where Burroughs worked until the mid-1980s.

"Dr. Burroughs firmly believed that this Museum would enrich lives, especially those of young Black people," Ward said.

Today, the museum includes many pieces of art, exhibits on civil rights and a prominent display on the city's first black mayor, Harold Washington. The museum was named after Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, who is widely regarded as Chicago's first permanent resident.

Burroughs studied at Chicago State University and taught at DuSable High School in the city's Bronzeville neighborhood. She also worked as a painter and printmaker starting in the late 1940s. She was appointed as commissioner to the Chicago Park District in 1985.

"She was a keeper of history, a historian for a lost and often disregarded people, and a champion for those whose voices often go unheard," said U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, a Chicago Democrat, in a statement. "She will be sorely missed, but her work lives on."

Museum officials said there won't be a funeral. A public memorial service will be held at a later date.