Dinkins, David N.

BIOGHIST REQUIRED David N. Dinkins was born in Trenton, New Jersey on July 10, 1927. In his early childhood, Dinkins moved with his mother to Harlem, but returned to Trenton to attend high school. After graduating he enrolled in Howard University in Washington, DC. World War II erupted and his studies were put on hold when he served in the United States Marine Corps. After serving as a Marine during World War II, he went on to obtain his bachelor's degree in mathematics from Howard University in 1950. At Howard, he became a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, the nation's first intercollegiate fraternity for African-American men. After graduating from Howard, he married Joyce Burrows, a former classmate. They moved to Harlem in 1951 and in 1956 he graduated from Brooklyn Law School. Dinkins practiced law in New York City from 1956 until 1975, while pursuing a career in politics.

BIOGHIST REQUIRED Joyce Burrows grew up in a very political family. Her father was Daniel Burrows, a former assemblyman and district leader. Burrows introduced Dinkins to J. Raymond Jones, the "Harlem Fox", known leader of Tammany Hall, the New York Democratic County Organization in the 1960s. It was through Jones that Dinkins became an integral part of the Carver Democratic Club. During this period he mixed and aligned himself with an influential group of upcoming politicians that included Charles Rangel, Percy Sutton and Basil Paterson. Later, this group of young and ambitious politicoes became known as the "gang of four".

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