9 Facts You Should Know about Local Hero, Septima P. Clark

Posted on by Ashleigh H.

“I believe unconditionally in the ability of people to respond when they are told the truth. We need to be taught to study rather than to believe, to inquire rather than to affirm.”- Septima P. Clark
  1. She is a Charleston native

Septima P. Clark was born May 3, 1898 on Wentworth St. in the historic Downtown Charleston district. Born to a former slave and Haitian laundress, her parents strived to provide a strong foundation of learning for young Septima.

  1. Septima was a devoted educator

Clark earned her teaching license at the age of 18 instructing black children in John’s Island and downtown at the Avery Normal Institute (now the College of Charleston Avery Research Center). Additionally, she taught black Charleston locals how to read and write in order for them to vote by using Sears catalogs and household items to instruct her students. Septima continued her education and earned her bachelor’s degree from Benedict College (1942) and her master’s from Hampton Institute (1946).

  1. She was an activist for black teacher pay and teacher desegregation in Charleston schools

In 1956, Clark worked closely with the Charleston Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to fight for black teachers rights to equal pay and be allowed to work in South Carolina public schools. Although her efforts were successful that year, her teaching license was revoked due to her affiliation with the NAACP. Since she could no longer teach in SC, Clark moved to Tennessee and worked for the Highlander Folk School. She helped improve students’ literacy skills and led workshops in social justice/political engagement – Rosa Parks attended one of these sessions before being at the forefront of the Montgomery bus boycott.

  1. Clark was a key figure of the Civil Rights Movement

In 1961, Clark went on to work for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Atlanta, Ga. She was appointed as the director of teaching and education over its Citizen Education Program. Septima hosted workshops to prepare black Americans for protests and the polls. She believed that education was important for African Americans to progress forward in society. In this position, she played a pivotal role in the Civil Rights Movement and was coined the “Mother of The Movement” by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

  1. She holds many accolades and awards

Clark moved back to Charleston and was elected to the Charleston School Board in 1975 and had her teacher’s pension reinstated after her wrongful termination decades earlier. The College of Charleston awarded Septima Clark with an honorary degree and received the Living Legacy Award under President Carter the following year for her contributions to the Civil Rights Movement. In 1982, she earned the highest SC civilian award, Order of the Palmetto.

  1. Septima Clark is a published author

Septima Clark wrote two memoirs, Echo in My Soul (1962) and Ready from Within (1986) to highlight her involvement in the Civil Rights Movement and her platform of literacy, education, and political participation among African Americans. In 1987, her second book received the American Book Award.

  1. She has a school dedicated to her educational mission in Charleston

Clark’s legacy continues through the installment of Septima P. Clark Corporate Academy in 1990 which is an educational program that assists at-risk high school students in receiving their high school diploma.

  1. Clark’s life will soon appear on stage

Check out the upcoming play, SEPTIMA, commissioned by PURE Theatre and the League of Women Voters of the Charleston Area to learn more about Septima Clark’s contribution to the Civil Rights Movement. The play will run from March 9th to April 1st at the PURE Theatre in Downtown Charleston.

  1. The College will be celebrating the work of Septima Clark in new exhibition

The newly installed Septima P. Clark Memorial Auditorium will be hosting an exhibition in Clark’s honor Thursday, February 23, 2023 at 5:00pm. It will be held in the Thaddeus Street Jr. Education Center at the College of Charleston. To learn more about local hero Sepitma Clark and her impact in the Charleston community, check out The College’s exhibition website. https://ldhi.library.cofc.edu/exhibits/show/septima_clark

Critical Conversations at the College of Charleston on March 30, 2022 at 6:00 PM EST

Posted on by anhaykal

Part of our Critical Conversations Series, featuring Polly Sheppard and Margaret Seidler. Moderated by Bernard Powers and Marjory Wentworth.

About this event

“Two Women Bridge the Racial Divide in a Civil Rights Journey” will be a fireside chat featuring Polly Sheppard, survivor of the Mother Emanuel AME shooting, and Margaret Seidler, a descendant of three generations of Charleston slave traders. Event will be held both live at the Rita Liddy Hollings Science Center Auditorium (58 Coming St, Charleston, SC 29401) and streamed online.

Registration Information

College of Charleston’s Provost’s Critical Conversations will feature students from FYE 114, including the 1967 Legacy Scholars TEDx-Style Talk on November 11th and 16, 2021 at 10 a.m. EST

Posted on by anhaykal

Dates: Thursday, November 11, 2021 and Thursday, November 16, 2021

Time: 10 a.m.-12 p.m. EST

Location: Alumni Center, School of Education (86 Wentworth Street) and Facebook Live

Event is open to the public in-person (mask wearing is required) and online.

Description

As part of the College of Charleston’s Provost’s Critical Conversations, each student in the First Year Experience seminar FYE 114 (including the 1967 Legacy Scholars) will share their research on an African American trailblazer, event, or organization that has made an impact at the College of Charleston and the world-at-large. 

Featured topics: Avery Normal Institute and the 1944 letter writing campaign to desegregate the College of Charleston, early black integrators, tributes to Linda Dingle Gadson (Class of 1971), Remus Harper (Class of 1972), Otto German (Class of 1973), Francis Sturcken, the history of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. House on the CofC campus, Dennis Muhammad (Class of 1992), Shannon Matthews Chandler (Class of 1995)

College of Charleston Political Science Convocation of Majors with Representative James Clyburn on Tuesday, November 9th at 3:30 p.m. EST

Posted on by anhaykal

The College of Charleston’s Department of Political Science invites you to our annual convocation. Our guest speaker, Congressman James E. Clyburn, will be here to discuss the importance of voting rights.

In-person seating is limited to those with College of Charleston ID, register for a seat here.

All others can watch on YouTube, see video below.

Ancestral Visions: Honoring the Past, Navigating the Future. A Conversation in Memory of Dr. Ade Ofunnyin and Mr. Leroy Lewis on November 3rd at 7pm via Zoom

Posted on by anhaykal

This event is hosted by the College of Charleston, the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture and the International African American Museum and the Anson Street African Burial Ground project team.

Students, friends and colleagues will have an opportunity to share their memories of these two passionate community activists and join a conversation about the ways that we can continue to honor them both, now as Ancestors.

Register

Join us for the 2021 ASALH Founders Day Celebration on October 9, 2021 at 1pm

Posted on by anhaykal

Description

The Charleston Area Branch of ASALH will celebrate Founders Day by welcoming Dr. Tonya Matthews, who is the new Chief Executive Officer of the International African American Museum (IAAM). The Museum is located at the historical site of Gadsden’s Wharf in Charleston, South Carolina and is scheduled to open in 2022. IAAM has been described as “one of the nation’s newest platforms for the disruption of institutionalized racism as America continues the walk toward ‘a more perfect union’”

A thought leader in inclusive frameworks, social entrepreneurship and education Dr. Matthews will share her thoughts on the historical importance of ASALH, the Black family and her vision for IAAM at this moment of racial reckoning.

We will also welcome the inaugural class of the College of Charleston’s 1967 Legacy Program. The program is comprised of a group of high achieving Black students pursuing excellence in the tradition of Dr. Carter G. Woodson.

Agenda

Welcome

Lift Every Voice and Sing

President’s Comments

Introduction of Featured Speaker

Featured Speaker Remarks: Dr. Tonya M. Matthews, Chief Executive Officer, International African American Museum, Charleston SC

Special Guest Presentation: College of Charleston 1967 Legacy Program

Announcements

Closing Remarks

About Guests

Dr. Tonya M. Matthews

Dr. Tonya M. Matthews is Chief Executive Officer of the International African American Museum (IAAM) at the historically sacred site of Gadsden’s Wharf in Charleston, SC. As a champion of authentic, empathetic storytelling of American history, IAAM is one of the nation’s newest platforms for the disruption of institutionalized racism as America continues the walk toward “a more perfect union.”

A thought-leader in inclusive frameworks, social entrepreneurship, and education, Matthews has written articles and book chapters across these varied subjects. She is founder of The STEMinista Project, a movement to engage girls in their future with STEM careers. Matthews is also a poet and is included in 100 Best African-American Poems (2010) edited by Nikki Giovanni. Matthews received her Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from Johns Hopkins University and her B.S.E. in engineering from Duke University, alongside a certificate in African/African-American Studies.

College of Charleston 1967 Legacy Program

The Legacy 1967 Program aims to improve the recruitment, retention, graduation and workplace success of Black students through scholarships, enhanced and extended education support, and professional preparation, as well as research the experiences of the Black trailblazers who contributed to the College.

Register

Register below to obtain the Zoom meeting information.

Register on Eventbrite

Center for the Study of Slavery in Charleston (CSSC) Inaugural Lecture, March 25th at 6:00 p.m.

Posted on by anhaykal


Mark your calendars and spread the word. Dr. Hilary Green, Associate Professor of History at the University of Alabama, will be delivering the inaugural Center for the Study of Slavery in Charleston (CSSC) Scholarly Lecture next Thursday, March 25th at 6:00 pm EST via Zoom. Her talk is titled “Untangling Campus Histories of Slavery.”

To register, use this link.

Sistahs in Indigo: A Conversation with Arianne King Comer and Ifé Franklin

Posted on by anhaykal

The African American Studies Program at the College of Charleston, in conjunction with Avery Research Center and the Gibbes Museum of Art, will host their annual artists’ lecture event: Sistahs in Indigo: A Conversation with Arianne King Comer and Ifé Franklin.

Join us for an insightful conversation between two indigo-making artists about the ancestral craft of indigo-dying and its connection to the Lowcountry. Arianne King Comer is Artist-in-Residence at the Gibbs Museum and will be joined in conversation by fellow artist and master dyer, Ifé Franklin. Erica Veal, Project Archivist and Interpretation Specialist at Avery Research Center, will moderate the conversation.

The virtual event will take place on Saturday, March 20, 2021 at 11am EST. You will not need to register to attend the event; we will stream the event on the Avery Research Center’s Youtube page (https://tinyurl.com/IndigoSistahs).

Check out the Avery Research Center’s Virtual Black History Program!

Posted on by anhaykal
More often than not the celebration of black strength, tenacity, and innovation is limited to the month of February. This lack of continuous acknowledgement of the culture that defines Charleston can be extremely detrimental, especially for native children. We Celebrate Year Round is an interactive, thought provoking, and inspiring virtual black history program created to spark meaningful conversation, engage students grades K-12, while reiterating the importance of black influence on the world as we know it. Produced by Eye of Elohim Videography We Celebrate Year Round carefully configures local artisans, creatives, historians, and storytellers alike to seamlessly express the importance of not only our local history, but how we continuously enhance the world as we know it. With special guest Minerva King, Amethyst Ganaway, Geechee Experience, CofC Gospel Choir, Chef Wibi, and Avery Staff viewers will be able to not only celebrate during the anniversary, but obtain knowledge to continue the conversations year round. We Celebrate Year Round will be available to view on February 26, 2021 at 12:00 pm on all Avery streaming platforms.