library's materials. Porter built on this to highlight genre and authors rather than to use the conventional Dewey Decimal Classification, which lacked appropriate class-marks. When Arthur Spingarn agreed to sell his private collection to Howard University, the university's treasurer required an external appraisal of its value, stating that Porter's estimate would be over the value of the collection. Although Porter requested someone from the Library of Congress to do this, they acknowledged that they lacked expertise in the subject area. They asked her to write the report, which they certified and signed. This report was accepted by the university treasurer. This estimate set the standard for appraising collections of black literature. Honors and legacy 1994 Charles Frankel Prize in the Humanities - given to "Americans who have brought the humanities to a wide public audience" The Conover-Porter Award to recognize outstanding achievement in Africana bibliography and reference tools was installed in 1980 by the Africana Librarians Council of the African Studies Association. The award was established in honor of two pioneers in African Studies bibliography, Helen F. Conover, of the Library of Congress, and Dorothy B. Porter. The Dorothy Porter Wesley Award was established in 2018 by the Information Professionals of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) "to honor and document the outstanding work of Information Professionals; Bibliophiles, Librarians, Archivists, Curators and Collectors." Personal life In 1929 Burnett married James A. Porter, an historian and artist. He was the author of Modern Negro Art. They had a daughter together, Constance, known as "Coni". She married Milan Uzelac, and initially worked with her mother. She served as Executive Director of the Dorothy Porter Wesley Library. She later helped create the African American Research Library & Cultural Center in Fort Lauderdale. James Porter died on February 28, 1970. Several years later, in 1979, Burnett Porter married Charles Wesley, an American historian and educator who pioneered important studies in black history. He died in 1987. Porter died in Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, Florida, aged 91. Selected publications Dorothy Porter published numerous bibliographies and one anthology. Wesley, Dorothy Porter. Afro-American Writings Published Before 1835: With an Alphabetical List (Tentative) of Imprints Written by American Negroes, 1760–1835. [New York]: Columbia University, 1932. Thesis (M. Sc.)--Columbia University, New York, 1932. Porter, Dorothy B. "A Library on the Negro". The American Scholar, Vol. 7, No. 1: pp. 115–117. 1938. Porter, Dorothy