The first Black student to receive a doctorate in art and archaeology from Princeton, Margaret died March 25, 2022, of a cardiac event during surgery in a New York hospital. She was 67.
Visual artist and art historian, Margaret is best known for her paintings of Black female vocalists from Aretha Franklin to Beyoncé and Lizzo in the African Diva Project, and her biography of Harlem Renaissance sculptor Richmond Barthé.
Born March 16, 1955, in Kingston, Jamaica, Margaret earned an AB at Amherst in 1984, an MA from Tulane in 1992, and a Ph.D. from Princeton in 1997. At York College, CUNY, she was Distinguished Lecturer in Fine Arts, and served as chair of the Department of Performing and Fine Arts and director of the Fine Arts Gallery. She also taught at Boston University and Wellesley. She was preparing to assume the post of dean of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts.
Margaret was a voice of advocacy and justice for underrepresented groups and the LGBTQ+ community. Her service to Princeton included APGA Board membership and chairing graduate alumni Reunions.
Margaret is survived by her spouse, Jacqueline Herranz Brooks; sons Damian and Erick Cohen; and three grandchildren.
Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.