Margaret Taylor-Burroughs

Uh, I became a professional writer when I was 15 at DuSable High School.

Uh, there was a wonderful lady there named, uh, Dr. Margaret Burroughs, who established the first African American museum, DuSable Museum of African American History, in the United States.

That's since 1952.

Uh, I'll make a brief story out of it.

Uh, I, I charged a dollar for an ordinary, $2 for the extraordinary, $3 for the exotic, and $4 for the outrageous.

That's wonderful.

On one occasion, I was writing an outrageous note, and Dr. Margaret Burroughs, who was, uh, my teacher, reached over my shoulder, grabbed the note, and made me promise to go to a writing workshop.

This is predating the Watts Writers Workshop in 1952.