Burks was born Mary Louise Ivy in Birmingham, Alabama, to Earl and Lorene Ivy, on December 11, 1920. She obtained her degree in English from Birmingham–Southern College in 1942. After graduating, she began working as a reporter for the local newspaper, the Birmingham Post. In 1946, she married organic chemist Robert E Burks Jr. The two had a son, Robert Ivy Burks, and she spent most of her time caring for their child. While volunteering in the community she met Blanche Evans Dean, an activist and self-trained botanist in the area.
