Anacostia Community Museum Archives

Dorothy Burlage Collection

Summary

Collection ID:
ACMA.06-101
Creators:
Burlage, Dorothy, 1937-
Dates:
bulk 1966-1971
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
.42 Linear feet
1 box
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The Dorothy Burlage Collection, which dates from 1966-1971 and measure .42 linear feet, documents the activism and activities of Southeast Neighborhood House in the Anacostia area of Washington, DC. Burlage worked for the organization during the 1960s. The collection includes newspaper clippings, newsletters, correspondence and writings focusing on community organizing, public housing, and social change. Also present are issues of Southeast News, a Southeast Neighborhood House publication.

Biographical

Biographical
Dorothy Dawson Burlage was born on September 13, 1937, in San Antonio, TX, to Joseph Dawson and Virginia Hendrix Dawson. Burlage attended Mary Baldwin University for one year before transferring to the University of Texas at Austin, where she became involved in campus political movements, such as National Student Association (NSA) and the YWCA Christian Faith and Life Community. Burlage graduated in 1959 and moved to Illinois to become the program director of the YMCA at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana. During her time with the YMCA, she collaborated with members of NSA and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) to organize various demonstrations, rallies, and protests focused on racial equality. Burlage also became an official member of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and began working with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). While working for the YMCA, Burlage met several prominent Civil Rights activists and workers, including Tom (1939-2016) and Casey Hayden (1937-2023), Alan Haber (1936- ), and Ella Baker (1903-1986).
Burlage attended the Harvard Divinity School for a year and a half, before moving to Atlanta, Georgia in the winter of 1961-1962 to pursue work with the NSA's Southern Students Human Relations Project. Burlage was tasked with developing educational plans for White and Black students on integrated campuses and planning voter registration programs. During this time, Burlage met more prominent figures in the Civil Rights movement, such as Joan Browning (1943- ), Anne Braden (1924-2006), Constance "Connie" Curry (1933-2020) and Bob Zellner (1939- ). Soon after, Burlage moved to Raleigh, North Carolina to take a director position with the Raleigh Citizens Associations (RCA). Burlage worked closely with students from local Black colleges to develop voter registration strategy.
In August of 1962, Burlage moved back to Atlanta for one year before moving to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1963 with her husband, Robb Burlage (1937- ). For the next two years, the couple worked with SDS and Southern Student Organizing Committee (SSOC) to help bridge gaps between the organizations' missions and goals. By mid-1965, Burlage and her husband moved to Washington D.C. where she became a community organizer in the Anacostia neighborhood, working primarily with the Southeast Neighborhood House. She joined fellow community activists, such as Etta Horn (1928-2001), Zora Martin-Felton (1930-2022), Walter Washington (1915-2003), and John Kinard (1936-1989), to organize a strong, community-based grassroots movement in Anacostia. The group Burlage was involved in was known as the "Target Team" and they worked with other local groups, including "Rebels with a Cause" and "Band of Angels." In 1966, Burlage and other community members helped Marion Barry (1936-2014) organize a citywide bus boycott to protest fare increases. The Target Team disbanded in 1968, feeling they had succeeded in their mission to support the movement in Anacostia. By 1970, after her divorce and the death of her friend, Ralph Featherstone (1939-1970), Burlage left community activism to pursue graduate studies.
Burlage received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from Harvard University, where her political involvement shifted to focus on women and family policies. In 2023, Burlage is a child psychologist in private practice focusing on children and adolescents.

Administration

Author
ACMA Staff
Sponsor
This project received support from the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Dorothy Burlage in 2017.
Processing Information
Machine-readable guide completed by Jennifer Morris, 2019. The collection was processed, and a finding aid prepared by Amelia J. Verkerk in 2023.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Use
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Conditions Governing Access
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist at ACMarchives@si.edu
Preferred Citation
Dorothy Burlage collection, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution, gift of Dorothy Burlage.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Community-based social services Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Newspaper clippings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Newsletters Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Writings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Landlord and tenant Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Anacostia (Washington, D.C.) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Public housing Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Reports Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Southeast Neighborhood House (Washington, D.C.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Martin-Felton, Zora Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Horn, Etta, 1928 – 2001 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Jones, Theresa Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Barry, Marion, 1936-2014 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Kinard, John, 1936-1989 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

Anacostia Community Museum Archives
1901 Fort Place, SE
Washington, D.C. 20020
Business Number: Phone: 202-633-4853
ACMArchives@si.edu