# Michelle Duster
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{{Short description|Author and public historian}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2025}}
'''Michelle Duster''' is an [American](/source/Americans) author and public historian. She is known for her work to preserve the legacy of her great-grandmother, [Ida B. Wells](/source/Ida_B._Wells).
==Early life and education==
Michelle Duster was born in [Chicago](/source/Chicago) to Maxine Duster and Donald L. Duster on December 20, 1963. Her father worked for [Comed](/source/Commonwealth_Edison),[{{Cite web |last=O'Donnell |first=Maureen |date=11 April 2013 |title=Comed exec, grandson of Ida B. Wells |url=https://www.pressreader.com/usa/chicago-sun-times/20130411/282192238460193 |access-date=2023-06-01 |via=PressReader}}] and her mother was an English teacher and civic leader.[{{Cite web |last=O'Donnell |first=Maureen |date=2022-11-04 |title=Maxine Duster, Chicago educator, civic leader, dead at 83 |url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/obituaries/2022/11/4/23429131/maxine-duster-educator-civic-leader-chicago-focus |access-date=2023-06-01 |website=Chicago Sun-Times |language=en}}] She is the paternal great-granddaughter of [Ida B. Wells](/source/Ida_B._Wells). Growing up in Chicago's [South Side](/source/South_Side%2C_Chicago), Duster began writing from an early age. While in high school, she entered essay contests and was a writer for the school newspaper.[{{Cite web |last=APW |date=2021-06-09 |title=Michelle Duster: A Descendant Goes To Work And Reclaims History Through Her Writing |url=https://arkansaspresswomen.org/michelledusterreclaimshistory/ |access-date=2023-10-04 |website=Arkansas Press Women |language=en-US}}] In 1985, she obtained her B.A. in [Psychology](/source/Psychology) from [Dartmouth College](/source/Dartmouth_College).[{{Cite web |title=Chicago Finally Has a Street Named After a Black Woman. For Michelle Duster '85, It's Personal. {{!}} Dartmouth Alumni |url=https://alumni.dartmouth.edu/content/chicago-finally-has-street-named-after-black-woman-michelle-duster-%E2%80%9985-it%E2%80%99s-personal |access-date=2023-06-01 |website=alumni.dartmouth.edu |language=en}}] She went on to obtain an M.A. in Media Studies from [The New School](/source/The_New_School).[{{Cite web |date=September 4, 2018 |title=Columbia College Chicago Faculty Member Has Newly Released Book About Michelle Obama |url=https://www.colum.edu/news-and-events/news-releases/2018/columbia-college-chicago-faculty-member-has-newly-released-book-about-michelle-obama |access-date=2023-06-01 |website=www.colum.edu |language=en-US}}]
==Career==
Duster has worked to preserve Ida B. Wells' legacy both through written publications and public history projects.[{{Cite news |date=1 February 2022 |title=Race in America: History Matters with Michelle Duster |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/washington-post-live/2022/02/01/race-america-history-matters-with-michelle-duster/ |access-date=1 June 2023}}][{{Cite web |last=Comment |first=Betsy Bird Leave a |date=2022-02-01 |title=Voices of Truth: Interviews with Michelle Duster and Laura Freeman About Their New Ida B. Wells Bio |url=https://afuse8production.slj.com/2022/02/01/voices-of-truth-interviews-with-michelle-duster-and-laura-freeman-about-their-new-ida-b-wells-bio/ |access-date=2023-10-04 |website=A Fuse #8 Production |language=en-US}}][{{Cite web |last=admin |date=2021-03-16 |title=Wright College Tutor Michelle Duster Pens Acclaimed Book, Ida B. the Queen: The Extraordinary Life and Legacy of Ida B. Wells |url=https://colleges.ccc.edu/2021/03/16/wright-college-tutor-michelle-duster-pens-acclaimed-book-ida-b-the-queen-the-extraordinary-life-and-legacy-of-ida-b-wells/ |access-date=2023-10-04 |website=CCC |language=en-US}}] She has written one children's book, ''Ida B. Wells, Voice of Truth: Educator, Feminist, and Anti-lynching Civil Rights Leader''[{{Cite web |title=Ida B. Wells, Voice of Truth |url=https://www.janeaddamschildrensbookaward.org/all-books/ida-b-wells-voice-of-truth/ |access-date=2023-06-01 |website=Jane Addams Peace Association |date=13 January 2023 |language=en-US}}] and one young adult biography, ''Ida B. The Queen: The Extraordinary Life and Legacy Of Ida B. Wells'',[{{Cite web |title=Biography of Ida B. Wells. 'Ida B. the Queen' coming out in February |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/books/2020/05/14/biography-ida-b-wells-ida-b-queen-coming-out-february-2021/5189670002/ |access-date=2023-06-01 |website=USA Today |language=en-US}}][{{Cite web |others=Chapter 16 |first=Kashif Andrew |last=Graham |date=2021-02-03 |title=Michelle Duster Delivers an Intimate Biography of Ida B. Wells |url=https://www.nashvillescene.com/arts_culture/books/michelle-duster-delivers-an-intimate-biography-of-ida-b-wells/article_abc5f7da-036e-5f55-841c-a1bb0c06f008.html |access-date=2023-06-01 |website=Nashville Scene |language=en}}] about her great-grandmother. She has also edited two anthologies of Wells' writing.
She received the Multi-Generational Activist Award from the [Illinois](/source/Illinois) Human Rights Commission in 2019, and the 2019 Martin Luther King Jr. Social Justice Award from her alma mater, [Dartmouth College](/source/Dartmouth_College).[{{Cite web |title=Author and Historian Michelle Duster to Give MLK Lecture on Feb. 16 |url=https://www.elmhurst.edu/news/author-and-historian-michelle-duster-to-give-mlk-lecture-on-feb-16/ |access-date=2023-10-04 |website=Elmhurst University |language=en}}]
==Selected bibliography==
===Children's literature===
* {{Cite book |ref=none |last=Duster |first=Michelle |title=Ida B. Wells, Voice of Truth |publisher=[Henry Holt and Company](/source/Henry_Holt_and_Company) |year=2022 |isbn=9781250239464 |location=New York City, New York |author-mask=1}}[{{Cite web |title=Ida B. Wells, Voice of Truth by Michelle Duster |url=https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250239464 |access-date=June 1, 2023 |website=[Macmillan Publishers](/source/Macmillan_Publishers)}}]
* {{Cite book |ref=none |last=Duster |first=Michelle |title=Ida B. the Queen: The Extraordinary Life and Legacy of Ida B. Wells |publisher=[Atria Publishing Group](/source/Atria_Publishing_Group) |year=2021 |isbn=9781982129811 |location=New York City, New York |author-mask=1}}[{{Cite book |date= 26 January 2021|title=Ida B. the Queen: The Extraordinary Life and Legacy of Ida B. Wells |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O9_kDwAAQBAJ |access-date=14 March 2025 |isbn=978-1-9821-2981-1 |last1=Duster |first1=Michelle |publisher=Simon and Schuster }}]
===Anthologies edited===
* {{Cite book |ref=none |last=Duster |first=Michelle |title=Ida In Her Own Words |publisher=Benjamin Williams Publishing |year=2008 |isbn=978-0980239812 |location=Lansing, Illinois |author-mask=1}}[{{Cite web |title=Michelle Duster |url=https://mldwrites.com/all-books |access-date=2023-06-01 |website=Michelle Duster |language=en-US}}]
* {{Cite book |ref=none |last=Duster |first=Michelle |title=Ida From Abroad |publisher=Benjamin Williams Publishing |year=2010 |isbn=978-0980239898 |location=Lansing, Illinois |author-mask=1}}