Shirley Kinsey (née Pooler; born February 7, 1946) is a

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

-based

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

, art collector, and former school teacher known, along with husband

Bernard Bernard ('' Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It has West Germanic origin and is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''be ...

and son Khalil, as the owner of Kinsey Collection, one of the largest private collections of

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

history and art in the world.

Early life and education

Shirley was born to Erma and Eddie Pooler on February 7, 1946, in

Lake City, Florida Lake City is a city in and the county seat of Columbia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 12,329, up from 12,046 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Lake City Micropolitan Statistica ...

. She attended university at

Florida A&M University Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), commonly known as Florida A&M, is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. ...

, where she met Bernard Kinsey, her future husband, following her arrest at a civil rights protest. She graduated with a degree in English in 1967. Shirley and Bernard married the same year and set a goal of travelling the world together. The couple was married in

Tallahassee Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2024, the est ...

at the First Baptist Institutional Church, followed by a reception in the faculty lounge at the university. Following graduation she was hired as a teacher with the Compton Unified School District. She later returned to school, graduating in 1976 from

Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private university, private Christianity, Christian research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ, with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Pepperdine's main campus consists ...

with a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in multi-cultural education.

Kinsey African American Art & History Collection

Shirley and Bernard began collecting art as a way of documenting their travels. Realizing they knew little of their own history and culture, the couple began collecting African-American art, literature and manuscripts eventually amassing one of the largest private collections in the world. Their collecting expanded following the birth of their son Khalil as a way of documenting where he came from outside of narratives focused on slavery. Pieces from their collection has toured extensively across the United States since 2006. The collection was exhibited internationally for the first time in 2016 in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. Khalil Kinsey works closely with his parents having served as chief operating officer and curator of collection and as vice president of the Bernard and Shirley Kinsey Foundation. The Kinsey family and their collection were featured on Episode 26 of the podcast '' This Is Love'' in 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kinsey, Shirley 1946 births American art collectors American philanthropists Florida A&M University alumni Living people People from Lake City, Florida Philanthropists from Los Angeles Pepperdine University alumni