Doris E. Saunders facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Doris E. Saunders
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| Born |
Doris Elaine Evans
August 8, 1921 Chicago, Illinois, USA
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| Died | March 24, 2014 (aged 92) |
| Education | Northwestern University Central YMCA College Roosevelt University br />Boston University Vanderbilt University |
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Notable credit(s)
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Black Society The Day They Marched The Kennedy Years and the Negro Negro Handbook Kith and Kin: Focus on Families Special Moments in African-American History, 1955-1996: The Photographs of Moneta Sleet, Jr. |
Doris E. Saunders (born August 8, 1921 – died March 24, 2014) was an amazing American woman. She was a librarian, writer, editor, and even a businesswoman. She also taught journalism at a university.
Doris Saunders started her career as a librarian at the Johnson Publishing Company. This company was famous for magazines like Ebony. Later, she became the head of their Books Division. She even started her own company called Ancestor Hunting. This company helped people research their family history. She also wrote a publication for it called "Kith and Kin: Focus on Families."
Doris Saunders was also a Professor of Journalism. She led the Department of Mass Communication at Jackson State University. Even after she retired, she kept working with the Books Division at Johnson Publishing. She was a very busy and inspiring person!
Contents
Growing Up and Learning
Doris Evans was born on August 8, 1921, in Chicago, Illinois. Her parents were Thelma Rice and John Alvesta Stewart Evans. She went to Englewood High School in Chicago from 1934 to 1938. When her father passed away in 1935, Doris and her family moved in with her grandmother.
Doris started college at Northwestern University in 1938. She then studied at Central YMCA College in Chicago from 1939 to 1941. In 1941, she joined a training class at the Chicago Public Library. She finished her library training in 1942.
Soon after, she became a Junior Library Assistant. She quickly passed an exam to become a Senior Library Assistant. She worked in different library branches. Doris Saunders became the first African American reference librarian in a main library division. This was a big step! Between 1947 and 1951, she went back to Roosevelt University. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy.
Later in life, in 1976, Doris went back to school. Her children had already finished college. She studied at Boston University and earned two master's degrees in just one year! One was in Journalism and the other in Afro-American Studies. These degrees were given to her in 1977. From 1983 to 1984, she studied history at Vanderbilt University. Even then, she traveled to Chicago on weekends. She wanted to keep working on books for Johnson Publishing Company.
Doris Saunders was part of many important groups. She was on the board of the Black Academy of Arts and Letters. She also served on the board of the American Civil Liberties Union in Illinois. She was a member of the National Association of Media Women. She also helped with the Black Advisory Commission for the 1980 census.
Her important papers and writings are kept at the Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection. This collection is in Chicago, Illinois.
Working at Johnson Publishing Company
In January 1949, Doris Saunders had a great idea. She wrote a letter to John H. Johnson, the owner of Johnson Publishing Company. He had just bought a building for his Ebony magazine offices. Doris suggested he create a special library for his staff.
She imagined a library that would collect information about African American history. It would also have facts to help the advertising team. John H. Johnson liked her idea. On February 1, 1949, Doris Saunders started the library at Johnson Publishing Company. She was later promoted to lead the company's Book Publishing Division. This happened between 1960 and 1961.
While at Johnson Publishing, Doris Saunders helped write and edit many books. She co-authored Black Society in 1976. She also edited over 20 books. Some of these include:
- Burn Killer Burn (1962)
- Before The Mayflower (1962)
- The Day They Marched (1963)
- The Kennedy Years and the Negro (1964)
She also put together several handbooks and pictorial biographies:
- Negro Handbook (1966)
- Ebony HandBook (1974)
- Du Bois : A Pictorial Biography (1978)
- Special Moments in African-American History, 1955-1996: The Photographs of Moneta Sleet, Jr. (1998)
Helping Women in Media
In 1977, Doris Saunders joined the Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press (WIFP). This is a group that helps women communicate better. It also connects the public with media created by women.
Starting Ancestor Hunting
Doris Saunders started her own company in 1982. It was called Ancestor Hunting. She worked on it with her children and grandchildren. This company helped people research their family trees. They also published a newsletter called Kith and Kin: Focus on Families.
Throughout the 1980s, Doris traveled a lot. She spoke at family history conventions and groups. She wanted to promote her business and encourage people to learn about their family roots. Her main goal was to make genealogy (the study of family history) easy for everyone. She especially wanted to help African Americans discover their family stories.
Teaching at Jackson State University
In January 1978, Doris Saunders started working at Jackson State University. This was in Jackson, Mississippi. She began as a writer-in-residence for one semester. Later that year, she left Johnson Publishing Company. She accepted a full-time job at Jackson State University.
She became a Professor and Coordinator of Print Journalism. She also became the Chair of the Department of Mass Communications. She held these important roles until she retired in 1996.
