Dorothy B. Porter

Dorothy B. Porter
Born Dorothy Burnett
(1905-05-25)May 25, 1905
Warrenton, Virginia
Died December 17, 1995(1995-12-17) (aged 90)
Broward County, Florida
Nationality American
Other names Dorothy Louise Porter Wesley
Ethnicity African-American
Alma mater Howard University, 1928; Columbia University, B.S. 1931, M.S. in 1932 in library science
Occupation Librarian
Bibliographer
Curator
Employer Moorland-Spingarn Research Center,
Howard University
Known for First African American to graduate from Columbia's library school; built Moorland-Spingarn Research Center into a world-class collection
Spouse(s) James A. Porter (1929-1970)
Charles H. Wesley (1979-1979)
Children 1

Dorothy Louise Porter Wesley (May 25, 1905 – December 17, 1995) was an African-American librarian, bibliographer and curator, who built the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center at Howard University into a world-class research collection.[1]

Early life

Porter was born in Warrenton, Virginia, the first of four children of Dr. and Mrs. Hayes J. Burnett.

Porter received a B.A. from Howard University in 1928. She studied at Columbia University, earning B.S. in 1931 and M.S. in 1932 in library science. She was the first African American to graduate from Columbia's library school.[2]

Honors

Personal life

Porter's first husband was the historian and artist James A. Porter, author of Modern Negro Art.[4] They had a daughter, Constance "Coni" Uzelac (who was married to Milan Uzelac), and served as Executive Director of the Dorothy Porter Wesley Library, and helped create the African American Research Library & Cultural Center in Fort Lauderdale .[5]

Porter's second husband was Charles Wesley, an American historian and educator.[6]

She died in Broward County, Florida[7]

Selected publications

Dorothy Porter published numerous bibliographies and one anthology.[8]

References

  1. Pace, Eric (20 December 1995). "Dorothy Porter Wesley, 91, Black-History Archivist". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  2. Madison, Avril Johnson; Porter Wesley, Dorothy (1995). "Dorothy Burnett Porter Wesley: Enterprising Steward of Black Culture". The Public Historian 17 (1): 15–40. ISSN 0272-3433. OCLC 5546608560.
  3. "17 Are Honored In Arts Fields". The New York Times. 14 October 1994. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  4. "Dorothy B Porter - United States Public Records". FamilySearch. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  5. "Coni Uzelac - Obituary". Sun-Sentinel. 2 May 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  6. "Charles Wesley is Dead at 95; A Pioneer in Study of Blacks". The New York Times. 2 September 1987. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  7. "Dorothy Louise Porter-Wesley - Florida, Death Index". FamilySearch. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  8. Ferguson, SallyAnn H. (1997). Andrews, William L.; Smith Foster, Frances; Harris, Trudier, eds. "Porter, Dorothy". Oxford Companion to African American Literature (New York/Oxford: Oxford University Press): 596–597. ISBN 978-0-195-13883-2. OCLC 49346948. Retrieved 3 April 2015.

Further reading

chronological by publication date

Archival collections

External links

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