Dorothy Burnham, an American civil rights activist, microbiologist, and educator, celebrated her 110th birthday in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, on 22 March, according to The Boston Globe.
Burnham was born Dorothy Challoner in Brooklyn, New York, on 22 March 1915, to parents Frederick Challoner and Aletha Dowridge. Her parents were immigrants from Barbados. She attended P.S. 11 and graduated from Girls’ High School in Brooklyn in 1932. In 1936, Burnham earned a Bachelor of Science degree in microbiology from Brooklyn College in New York.
After majoring in microbiology, she and her husband, Louis E. Burnham (1915–1960), moved to Birmingham, Alabama, during the Great Depression. There, they became actively involved in the civil rights movement, including their work with the Southern Negro Youth Congress (SNYC). Even after the SNYC disbanded in 1948, she remained deeply engaged in the civil rights and women’s movements of the 1950s and 1960s, participating in organizations such as Jeans and Gender.
1936 Brooklyn College yearbook. (Source: Countdown to 2030 – CUNY)
After returning to Brooklyn from Birmingham, she pursued a career in bacteriology, researching and identifying bacteria for hospitals and developing diagnostic samples for disease identification. She later taught biology at SUNY Empire State College and Hostos Community College.
Her activism remained steadfast, as she joined the broad coalition organized by the Communist Party. She served as a delegate to the World Federation of Democratic Youth and attended its conference in Paris in 1946. She played a leading role in numerous organizations, including support groups for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Women for Economic and Racial Equality, and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. She also contributed to Freedomways, a journal on African American culture and politics co-founded by her husband and published from 1961 to 1985.
She and her husband had four children. Their eldest daughter, Claudia Burnham, was followed by Margaret Burnham (born 1944), a law professor, and former judge in Massachusetts. Their daughter Linda Burnham (born 1948) is a journalist and women’s rights activist, focusing on issues affecting women of color. Their son, Charles Burnham (born 1950), is a violinist.
The featured image was taken in 2022, and sourced from The Martha’s Vineyard Times.
LongeviQuest extends warm congratulations to Dorothy Burnham on her 110th birthday.
