#OnThisDay 1987 civil rights activist Septima Poinsetta Clark died on St. John's Island, SC. Who was Septima Clark?

Glad you asked.

Source: https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/clark-septima-poinsette

The daughter of formerly enslaved parents, she taught school before graduating from Benedict College and then earning a Master's degree from Hampton Institute. An active member of the NAACP, she participated in their suit for equal pay for teachers.

South Carolina passed a law that banned city and state employees from belonging to the NAACP. When Ms. Clark refused to resign, she was fired after 40 years of teaching.

That didn't stop Ms. Clark.

She already held voter education and registration workshops in Tennessee through the Highlander Folk School in Monteagle, Tennessee, a grassroots education center dedicated to social justice.

Two participants in this center?

Rosa Parks and John Lewis.

Believing that literacy and political empowerment are inextricably linked, Clark taught people basic literacy skills, their rights and duties as U.S. citizens, and how to fill out voter registration forms.

When she was fired by the State of Tennessee, she was hired by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) where organized and ran their Citizenship Education Program (CEP) modeled on what Ms. Clark's work.

Dr. King and Mr. Lewis praised her excellence and dedication to literacy, educating and registering voters. In 1975 she won a seat on Charleston's School Board. Her pension was reinstated. President Carter gave her a "Living Legacy" award.

Through her moral courage, strength, faith, dedication, and infinite selflessness, Ms. Clark - teaching others how to read, registering people to vote, and learning the process - made a difference.

Thank you, Ms. Clark.