[2] Sutherland was born in Winthrop, Massachusetts in 1915 but was raised in Chicago by her mother after her parents’ divorce.
She was the graduate school advisor[5] for Dr. Carla Hayden who was appointed as Librarian of Congress in 2016.
[2] Two of her former students established the Zena Sutherland Lecture Series in 1983 in her honor.
[4] In 1995, the Zena Sutherland Awards for Excellence in Children's Literature was established by Philip Matsikas, Donna Schatt and Karen Putman.
[4] Sutherland married Roland Bailey in 1937 and they had three children, Stephen, Thomas and Katherine.