Background
Burgess was the son of Theodore Thomas (a dining car waiter on the Pere Marquette Railway) and Ethel Inez Beverly (a kindergarten teacher) Burgess.
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John Burgess
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Education
He attended Central High School in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Burgess then earned a Master of Divinity degree from the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1934, of which he was one of the first black graduates.
Career
He received a Bachelor of Arts in 1930 and an Master of Arts in 1931 from the University of Michigan. After beginning his ministry in his home parish of Saint Philip"s Episcopal. A Colored Episcopal Mission in Grand Rapids and then Cincinnati, Ohio, Burgess became the Episcopal chaplain at Howard University in Washington, District of Columbia in 1946.
In 1951, he became the first African American to serve as canon at Washington National Cathedral.
In 1956, Burgess moved to the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts as an archdeacon of Boston"s parishes and missions and superintendent of what became named the Episcopal City Mission. He was the first black archdeacon in New England.
When Burgess was consecrated as diocesan bishop in 1970, he became the first African American to head an Episcopal diocese. Burgess was known for his efforts to revitalize urban ministry, confront racism in public schools, support prison reform, build bridges between black and white communities, and improve the efficiency of the diocese.
He was an important ecumenical leader in maintaining peace during the Boston school desegregation crisis.
Following his retirement in 1975, Burgess taught pastoral theology at the Yale Divinity School. He was awarded honorary degrees from the University of Michigan, Boston College, Assumption College, the University of Massachusetts, Trinity College, Northeastern University, and Saint Augustine"s College.
