Jeannine Smith Clark

Jeannine Smith Clark (October 5, 1928 – ) was a Washington, D.C. educator and activist who served on the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution from 1983 to 1994.

Life and career She was born Jeannine Smith, was the second of seven daughters of John Archibald Smith and Lorena Jackson Smith. A fifth-generation African-American Washingtonian, her family roots in Washington, D.C. stretched back to 1830. She grew up Columbia Heights and graduated from Dunbar High School.

Smith graduated from Howard University in 1950 with a B.A. in English and German. Through her sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha, she became involved in the American Human Rights Council, which campaigned for civil rights legislation, educational funding, and the protection of immigrants and agricultural and domestic workers.

Clark also engaged in volunteer work and received numerous accolades. She was named the founding chair of the Howard University Hospital Advisory Board, chair of the DC United Way, and “Mother of the Year" in 1982 by the DC Federation of Civic Associations.