Alexander Clark

Alexander G. Clark (February 25, 1826 – May 31, 1891) was an African-American businessman and activist who served as United States Ambassador to Liberia in 1890–1891, where he died in office. In 1867 Clark sued to gain admission for his daughter to attend a local public school in Muscatine, Iowa. The case of Clark v. Board of School Directors achieved a constitutional ruling for integration from the Iowa Supreme Court in 1868, 86 years before the United States Supreme Court decision of Brown v. Board of Education. He was a prominent leader in winning a state constitutional amendment that gained the right for African Americans in Iowa to vote (1868). Active in church, freemasonry, and the Republican Party, he became known for his speaking skills and was nicknamed "the Colored Orator of the West." to parents who had been freed from slavery. His parents were John Clark and Rebecca (Darnes) Clark. When he was around 13, Clark moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, to live with an uncle and learn the barbering trade. His uncle, William Darnes, also saw to his education in other areas. Two years later the young Clark started working on the river steamboat George Washington.

In 1867, Clark sent his daughter, Susan, to a local public school in Muscatine as she wanted to further her education but there was no secondary school for Black children in the town at the time. The school enforced a policy of separate school for Black students, so she was turned away. This happened after he already had tried to send his children to a close by public school after the nearby public school for Black children shut down in 1865, but Susan and her siblings were turned away after two days. He sued the school board in 1868 for the right of his daughter to attend her local school, resulting in the case Clark v. Board of School Directors. The local municipal court ruled in his favor but the school board appealed.

The Iowa State Supreme Court also ruled in the Clarks' favor in March 1868, noting that under the 1857 Iowa Constitution, the board of education is required to "provide for the education of all the youths of the State, through a system of common schools." The court ruled that requiring Black students to attend a separate school and denying them of a quality education violated the law which "expressly gives the same rights to all the youths." Due to Clark's action, Iowa was among the first states to integrate its schools. Lost In History: Alexander Clark is a 2012 film documentary about the activist, directed and written by Marc Rosenwasser and produced by Jacob Rosdail; produced and broadcast by Iowa Public Television. It is hosted and narrated by opera star Simon Estes. Available on YouTube. The Alexander G. Clark Project operates a website and Facebook page devoted to Clark. It was created by D. Kent Sissel and maintained by Daniel G. Clark (no relation). The Alexander G. Clark Foundation seeks to preserve Clark's legacy of pioneering equal-rights causes in Iowa and nationwide. Special attention is devoted to care and future institutionalization of the Alexander Clark House. The foundation created a tax-exempt fund at the Community Foundation of Greater Muscatine. In 2018 the City of Muscatine established Alexander Clark Day to be observed "in perpetuity" on Clark's birthday, Feb. 25. In 2018 a Muscatine museum presented an exhibit in observance of the 150th anniversary of the 1868 Iowa Supreme Court's decision in favor of Susan Clark. In 2019 the Alexander Clark Room was dedicated on the 6th floor of the Merrill Hotel and Conference Center on the Muscatine riverfront. Views from its windows overlook both the Mississippi River and the Clark family's historic downtown neighborhood including their home, the Clark House high-rise, the 1850 building where Susan Clark attended high school, and the 1857 building that was the Congregational Church where Clark friends and supporters were members.