Stephen De Windt moved with his family from the San Francisco Bay area to Pasadena when he was twelve.  He attended Pasadena City College and Arizona State University.  After a career in the airline industry, he became an actor—a “background artist”—in Hollywood.

De Windt heard a great deal about his talented great-great-aunt Pauline Powell Burns from the women in his family.  Fascinated by his family history, he made a number of donations to the collections of the African American Museum and Library at Oakland.  He was not fully aware of his connection to the Fossetts of Monticello until 2006.  When he heard their story, his response was, “They stepped up to the plate.”