[5] Donegan graduated from DuSable High School, where she studied with Walter Dyett, a teacher who also worked with Dinah Washington, Johnny Griffin, Gene Ammons, and Von Freeman.

[5] In May 1983, Donegan, along with Billy Taylor, Milt Hinton, Art Blakey, Maxine Sullivan, Jaki Byard, and Eddie Locke, performed at a memorial service for Earl Hines, held at St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church in New York City.

Ben Ratliff argued in The New York Times that "her flamboyance helped her find work in a field that was largely hostile to women.

"[1] In 1992, Donegan received an "American Jazz Master" fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts,[9] and in 1994, an honorary doctorate from Roosevelt University.

[6] Donegan was outspoken about her view that sexism, along with her insistence on being paid the same rates as male musicians, had limited her career.