Name/Title
Lindsay, Inabel Burns Dr.Entry/Object ID
9999.BHF.304Scope and Content
Lindsay, Inabel Burns Dr.
Inabel Burns was born February 13, 1900 in St. Joseph, Missouri. She was the youngest of seven children born to Margaret and Scott Burns. Her childhood was difficult by the separation of her parents and sickness and poor eyesight that kept her from entering school until she was eight years old. When she was finally well enough to attend school, she went directly into fourth grade because of the tutoring she received from her older siblings.
Her eighth grade year she encountered racial discrimination. She entered a national contest sponsored by the National Tuberculosis Association in St. Joseph. Her essay won, but for the first time in history of the contest a black student had won. That year the Tuberculosis Association awarded two prizes, ten dollars to a white student and five dollars to Inabel. She was not named second place winner, but the Negro winner.
She graduated from Bartlett High School and went to Howard University. She also did graduate work at the New York School of Social Work and later Columbia University. Her mother's illness interrupted her and it was fifteen years before she completed her master's degree in 1937 at the University of Chicago's School of Social Service Administration. Now married to Arnett Grant Lindsy she returned to Howard University to teach social work courses. Her dream was to establish a two-year accredited Master of Social Work program.
In 1945 she became Inabel Burns Lindsay Dean of the School of Social work. She became the first female academic dean at Howard University.
Not long before her death, Dean Lindsay was awarded the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by Howard University. She died September 11, 1983. Her ashes were returned to St. Joseph and she was buried at amount Mora Cemetery. In 1985 a final honor was bestowed. The Howard University Board of Trustees named the School of Social Work the Inabel Burns Lindsay Building.
She was Cole Hawkins's cousin.Collection
Black ArchivesLexicon
Search Terms
Black Social Work, Black History, Black Social Workers, Howard UniversityRelationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Margaret BurnsPerson or Organization
Scott BurnsPerson or Organization
Cole HawkinsPerson or Organization
Arnett Grant LindsayPerson or Organization
Dr. Inabel Burns Lindsay
