Michelle Duster

Cultural heritage educator Michelle Duster was born on December 20, 1963, to civic leader and educator Maxine Duster and Donald L. Duster in Chicago, Illinois. She is the niece of sociology professor Troy Duster. She earned her B.A. degree in psychology in 1985 from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. In 1987, Duster completed coursework for the film and video production M.F.A. program at Columbia College Chicago. She then went on to earn her M.A. degree in media studies in 1997 from The New School in New York, New York. Duster is the great granddaughter of journalist and activist Ida B. Wells.

In 1988 and 1989, Duster worked with filmmaker William Greaves on his documentary Ida B. Wells: A Passion for Justice, which received several awards including First Place Documentary Award from the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, the Silver Apple at the National Educational Film and Video Festival, and the Silver Plaque at the Chicago International Film Festival. In 1993, Duster worked with Kathe Sandler on her documentary titled A Question of Color about colorism, its impact on the beauty standard, and its effects on the Black community.

In 1990, Duster moved to New York City, where she worked for the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and the advertising agency Jordan, McGrath, Case & Taylor before joining Liberty Brokerage Investment Corporation in 1997. Duster wrote a biography about her grandmother, Alfreda Duster, entitled Women for Building Chicago 1790-1990, which was published in 2001. After returning to Chicago, she worked in marketing communications for several institutions including Motorola, Van Kampen Investments, and Harris Bank. In 2008, Duster edited her first anthology of Ida B. Wells writing called Ida in Her Own Words. That same year, Duster joined the Ida B. Wells Commemorative Art Committee, which commissioned the Ida B. Wells National Monument. She served as the secretary for the Chicago Women’s History Center. In 2010, Duster edited her second anthology of Ida B. Wells’ writing called Ida from Abroad. In 2013, after the passing of her father, Duster and her brothers assumed leadership of the Ida B. Wells Memorial Foundation. In 2015, Duster became an adjunct professor in the Business and Entrepreneurship Department at Columbia College Chicago. In 2021, Duster’s biography of Ida B. Wells entitled, Ida B. the Queen was published, followed by her children’s book Ida B. Wells, Voice of Truth in 2022. In 2022, Duster spoke at the U.S. White House alongside President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for the signing of the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act.

Duster serves on the boards of numerous organizations including the Women’s Suffrage National Monument Foundation, the National Public Housing Museum, and the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame. Duster received the Multi-Generational Activist Award from the Illinois Human Rights Commission and the Ripple Effect Award from Public Narrative in 2022.

Duster resides in Chicago, Illinois.

Michelle Duster was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on May 23, 2024.