Overview

Known as the “Queen Mother” or “Grandmother of the American Civil Rights Movement” Septima Poinsette Clark was an educator and civil rights activist who believed that “knowledge could empower marginalized groups in ways that formal legal equality couldn’t.”

As director of more than 800 citizenship schools throughout the South, Clark was instrumental in helping thousands of African-Americans gain the literacy skills necessary to participate in the fight for voting rights.

One of her students, a seamstress from Montgomery named Rosa Parks, was so inspired by the concepts learned at the citizenship workshops that she returned home and refused to give up her seat on a segregated public bus. Parks’ actions started the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Yet Parks always acknowledge Clark and the citizenship schools for her courage, saying, "I only hope that there is a possible chance that some of Septima's great courage and dignity and wisdom has rubbed off on me."

Early Life and Education

 Septima Poinsette Clark was born in Charleston on May 3, 1898. Her father, Peter Poinsette had been a slave. Once the 13th Amendment ended enslavement, Poinsette worked in the Charleston Harbor shipyards. Clark’s mother, Victoria Warren Anderson Poinsette was born free and worked as a laundress, raising her eight children with great discipline.

Clark learned to read and write from a local neighbor who taught children out of her home. In 1914 when a school was opened for older African-American students in Charleston, Clark was able to receive a formal education.

Following her graduation, she attended Avery Institute and graduated in 1916. 

Educator and Activist

After passing a state examination, Clark began working as a teacher on John’s Island, a position she held for three years. In 1919 Clark returned to Avery Institute where she taught for a year. Clark also joined the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in an effort to get Charleston to hire African-American teachers.

In 1925, Clark relocated to Columbia, SC and continued teaching and participating in initiatives started by a local chapter of the NAACP. By 1945 she was working with Thurgood Marshall  on a case that was fighting for equal pay for African-American teachers. In her autobiography, Clark described it as her “first effort in a social action challenging the status quo.” When the case won, Clark’s salary as a teacher increased three times."

Civil Rights Leader

Clark worked for the Highlander Folk School in Tennessee. The purpose of the school was to promote integration and the Civil Rights Movement. Soon, Clark was serving as director of the Highlander’s Citizenship school program, which helped everyday people learn basic math as well as literacy skills.

When the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) decided to oversee citizenship schools, Clark was appointed director of education and teaching. As a result of  Clark’s leadership, more than 800 citizenship schools were established throughout the South enabling people to register to vote because they were able to pass literacy tests.

Personal Life

In 1920, Clark married her husband, Neri. However, within five years, Clark’s husband died of kidney failure. The couple had one son named Neri Jr.

 Death and Legacy  

Clark died while living on John’s Island in 1987. However, at the time of her death, she’d already be honored for her work as an educator and civil rights activist. In 1979, Jimmy Carter   honored Clark with a Living Legacy Award. In 1982, Clark was the recipient of the Order of the Palmetto—the highest honor given to civilians in South Carolina.