Septima Poinsette Clark

HISTORY TOLD WITH WIT AND SKILL

1758
Feb. 28 -- Lt. Col. Henry Bouquet, who author Walter J. Fraser Jr. (Charleston! Charleston!) called a "brash thirty-eight-year-old British soldier-of-fortune" demanded that the colonial Assembly pay for his officers' housing needs. The Assembly refused his request. Soldiers' housing would become one of colonists' complaints as the country moved toward revolution.

March 18 -- The Assembly denied Lt. Col. Henry Bouquet's demand that they pay for his soldiers' housing. Among those who were opposed were Peter Manigault, Christopher Gadsden, Charles Pinckney, Henry Laurens and Rawlins Lowndes, writing "Officers and Soldiers cannot, legally or constitutionally, be quarter'd in private Houses, without the special Consent of the Owners or Possessors of such Houses."

1760
Jan. 9 -- Gov. Lyttleton and his soldiers marched (somewhat) victoriously down Broad Street and at noon cannons fired to welcome the troops back to Charleston after having concluded a peace treaty with the Cherokees near Keowee. The treaty was hastily made as a raging smallpox epidemic was ravaging the tribe, and the soldiers feared catching it.

Jan. 12 -- Three days after Gov. Lyttleton's return, the worst epidemic to date of smallpox broke out within the colony.

1761
Dec. 17 -- Early Patriot leader Christopher Gadsden wrote an editorial in the Gazette accussing Lt. Col. James Grant, a Scottish officer in the British Army, of not having been aggressive enough in his attacks on the Cherokees, claiming he did not permit his men "to cut the throats of as many as they could have." In Charleston! Charleston!, author Walter J. Fraser Jr. suggests the criticism may have been fueled, at least in part, by "personal jealousies increasingly common in relations between British regular officers and provincial officers" (p. 95).

1764
Aug. 19 -- Arthur Middleton married Mary Izard, "a Lady who is one of the first of her sex for sense, politeness and every female accomplishment."

1765
Sept. 4 -- Christopher Gadsden, Thomas Lynch and John Rutledge set sail for the illegally called Stamp Act Congress in New York City. Gadsden, ever the ardent Patriot, served as chair of the committee that drafted resolutions condemning the act.

Oct. 24 -- An angry mob seeking the whereabouts of the destested tax stamps issued through the Stamp Act stormed a number of notable residences in downtown Charleston, including that of Henry Laurens, who said that under the guise of "Patriotism ... committed at length Burglary & Robbery." (Fraser Jr., West J. in Charleston! Charleston!, p. 109)

Oct. 26 -- Leaders of a rebel mob spread rumors that Charles Town's two local stamp agents, George Saxby and Caleb Lloyd, were hiding out at Fort Johnson on James Island. Over the next two days, the mob rampaged through the streets of Charles Town, threatening to kill the agents if they did not resign their office. (Source: Charleston, Charleston!, p. 109, by Walter J. Fraser Jr.)

Oct. 28 -- Because of the murderous threats by an angry rebel mob two days before, Charles Town's stamp agents, George Saxby and Caleb Lloyd, announced that to ensure the peace of the province (and save their lives), they would not enforce the hated Stamp Act. The Sons of Liberty poured into the streets and unfurled the blue flag of "Liberty." (Source: Charleston, Charleston!, p. 109, by Walter J. Fraser Jr.)

Dec. 17 -- Amid rumors of a possible slave rebellion, Acting Governor William Bull called an emergency Council meeting. A hundred militia men were deployed to patrol the city and the captains of ships moored in the harbor had their sailors stand sentinel at night. The holidays passed peacefully, though the patrols continued both day and night through early January (Charleston! Charleston! by West Fraser Jr., p. 113).

1766
Jan. 1 -- Becoming increasingly alarmed at the ratio of the enslaved vs. white population in Charles Town, the Assembly imposed heavy import duties on all slaves brought into the colony as of this date.

June 6 -- Elizabeth Thomas Broun dies and is buried in the St. James Goose Creek Chapel of Ease churchyard.

1768
Oct. 1 -- In preparation for the upcoming Assembly elections, Charles Town's mechanics nominated candidates who opposed the Quartering Act, Stamp Act, and Sugar Act. Led by Patriot Christopher Gadsden, they met at the Liberty Tree "where many loyal, patriotic and constitutional toasts were drank." The company then marched on to Dillon's Tavern to continue the celebration.

1769
July 22 -- The colonial Assembly appointed a Committee of Thirty-Nine, which included an equal number of merchants, planters and artisans, thus for the first time granting the laboring classes a significant voice in the colony's government. (Source: Walter J. Fraser Jr. in Charleston, Charleston!, p.125)

Dec. 8 -- The S.C. General Assembly voted to send 1,500 pounds Sterling to John Wilkes, a member of England's Parliament who had been arrested and imprisoned for criticizing the King. As Patriotic tensions here grew, they felt a kinship with Wilkes's cause. Unfortunately, the King's counselors saw the gift as a slap in the face to their sovereign, which did nothing to mellow the rebellous tensions that were brewing. (Source: Walter J. Fraser Jr. in Charleston, Charleston!, p.126)

1770
Jan. 30 -- Lt. Gov. William Bull recommended to the General Assembly the establishment of a provincial college, which became what we know today as the College of Charleston (and my Alma Mater).

Dec. 13 -- Charlestonians voted a local boycott against the importation of British goods (with the exceptions of tea and luxury items) as a result of the repeal of the Townshend Act. (Source: Walt Fraser in Charleston. Charleston! page 127)

1773
Jan. 12 -- Though authoritative accounts vary, what may indeed have been the first public museum in America was established, The Charleston Museum.

Nov. 19 -- The so-called "Club Forty-Five" met at the Liberty Tree to agitate for independence from English rule.

Dec. 2 -- The English ship London dropped anchor in Charles Town harbor with 257 chests of tea aboard. As the tension of the impending revolution filled the air, it was clear that if the colonists allowed the cargo to be delivered with its three-pence-per-pound duty collected as authorized by Parliament, it would be an admission that the colony was answerable to the governing body of England so far away. Christopher Gadsden was incensed. He and his friends posted handbills all over town calling for a meeting the next day at the Old Exchange Building to discuss what should be done. (Source: Charleston, Charleston! by Walt Fraser, p. 136)

1774
Oct. 22 -- Henry Middleton was elected President of the first Continental Congress.

1775
April 14 -- News reached Charles Town that Parliament was sending additional troops to enforce British policies (and taxation) in the colonies. (Source: Charleston, Charleston! by Walt Fraser, p. 141)

April 26 -- In response to the news that British troops were being dispatched to the colonies, the Secret Committee of Five, created by the Provisional. Congress and led by William Henry Drayton, seized the arms and powder that were being stored in local magazines and hid them in private houses throughout the city. (Source: Charleston, Charleston! by Walt Fraser, p. 141)

June 8 -- Two Charlestonians who remained loyal to the Crown, a small-time merchant named Laughlin Martin and another man named James Dealy, were tarred and feathered by locals calling for revolution, based on an accusation that they had cheered rumours that enslaved Blacks, Catholics, and Native Americans were to receive arms from British forces to help quell the rebellion. (Source: Charleston, Charleston! by Walt Fraser, p. 143)

June 16 -- A slave named Jemmy said in a depostion to Revolutionary authorities that he had been approached by his brother-in-law Thomas Jeremiah to "take a few guns" to a runaway slave named Dewar. The weapons, he said, were "to be placed in Negroes hands to fight against the inhabitants of this Province" to support the British. (Source: Charleston, Charleston! by Walt Fraser, p. 145)

August 11 -- The slave Thomas Jeremiah went on trial under the Negro Act of 1740 for helping to arm other enslaved Blacks in support of the British cause. Found guilty, he was sentenced "to be hanged, and then burned to ashes." (Source: Charleston, Charleston! by Walt Fraser, p. 145)

August 12 -- A local mob seized a British soldier "for some insolent speech he had made," tarred and feathered him, and "putting him in a cart paraded through the Town ... using him very cruelly all the time." But the afternoon, the crowd had grown to 400, who roamed through the streets, stopping at the houses of suspected Crown sympathizers, using the soldier to demonstrate what their fate might be if they continued their support of the Crown. (Source: Charleston, Charleston! by Walt Fraser, p. 145)

August 17 -- Jemmy, the slave who testified against his brother-in-law Thomas Jeremiah, recanted his testimony that Jeremiah had been involved in transporting British arms to this enslaved colleagues. (Source: Charleston, Charleston! by Walt Fraser, p. 146)

August 18 -- Despite his brother-in-law's recanted tesimony that he was distributing British arms to enslaved Negros, Thomas Jeremiah was hanged anyway, then burnt to ashes as his sentence decreed. He had maintained his innocence to the end. S.C. Gov. William Campbell believed Jeremiah was innocent, as did the Royal Attorney General, saying Jeremiah was the victim of local hysteria. (Source: Charleston, Charleston! by Walt Fraser, p. 146)

1776
June 3 -- S. Smith published "A View of Charles-Town, the Capital of South Carolina, from an Original Picture Painted at Charlestownin the Year 1774," painted by Thomas Leitch and engraved by Samuel Smith.

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SEPTIMA POINSETTE CLARK (1898 - 1987)

Link to I Love the Lowcountry video on Septima P. Clark.

Certainly there are many, many people who say they have been inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Yet relatively few people have heard the story of a woman who, Dr. King said, inspired him: Septima Poinsette Clark. Indeed, though they had their differences, King invited Mrs. Clark to accompany him to Sweden when he went to accept the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, noting in his speech that this American educator and early civil rights activist had been an inspiration to him.

Septima Poinsette was born May 3, 1898, to Peter and Victoria Warren Anderson Poinsette. Peter had been born a slave on Joel Poinsette's farm near Georgetown on the Waccamaw River. A house slave, Peter's principal responsibility was getting the children to and from school.

Upon emancipation, Peter took a job working on ships in Charleston Harbor. During one of his travels to Haiti, he met Victoria, who had been born a free person of color in Charleston, but moved to Haiti as a young child to be raised by her brother. Peter and Victoria returned to Charleston and Victoria took a job as a laundress, declaring proudly that she had never been, nor would ever be, anyone's servant.

Victoria was a strict mother, particularly on her daughters, and was determined that they would grow up to be ladies. They were allowed to play with friends just one day a week, with the other six being devoted to their lessons and their chores. They were admonished to never go out without their gloves, to never yell or scream, and to never eat standing on the street rather than seated properly at a table. Septima's father, however, was more lenient and she recalled being disciplined by him only once: when she tried to skip school one day.

Septima began school in 1904 when she was six, attending the Mary Street School. Her parents, however, felt that she was not learning much and enrolled her with a private teacher who lived across the street from the school. Because her parents were too poor to pay for her education, Septima babysat for the tutor's children in lieu of tuition.

When Septima graduated from sixth grade, there was no public high school for black children in Charleston. Nevertheless, she passed an exam that allowed her to begin attending 9th grade at Avery Academy, a high school founded by missionaries from Massachusetts. Initially all of her teachers were white women whom she admired and sought to emulate. In 1914, two years before Septima's graduation, the first black teachers were hired at Avery, and this undoubtedly nurtured her desire to teach.

There was no money for Septima to continue her studies once she graduated from Avery. Thus at 18, she passed an exam that qualified her to teach in the rural community of Johns Island. After three years in this position, she returned to teach at Avery, where she used her earnings to attend Benedict College in Columbia part time. She eventually went on to earn her master's degree at Hampton Institute in Virginia.

During this time she married a man from out of state, Nerie David Clark. Her mother never forgave her for marrying a man she deemed to be "a stranger." Mr. Clark did not live long after their marriage, during which the couple had two children, only one of which survived.

Mrs. Clark returned to Johns Island where she taught children during the day, then voluntarily taught adults literacy and basic skills during the evenings, often using the Sears catalog as a teaching resource. Although she had her master's degree, Charleston did not hire black teachers at that time.

Mrs. Clark made $35 a week teaching 132 rural black children. Her assistant teacher earned $25. Meanwhile the white teacher across the street was earning $85 teaching three white children. This disparity fueled Mrs. Clark's involvment in the new Civil Rights Movement. Her work, some of which was conducted along side Thurgood Marshall, who would become the first black U.S. Supreme Court Justice, would help lay the foundation for the eventual desegregation of public schools.

After teaching for several years in Columbia, where she was actively involved in politics, Mrs. Clark returned to Charleston. As the Civil Rights Movement gained momentum, South Carolina passed a law that banned city or state employees from being involved. Mrs. Clark refused to resign her position as an officer of the NAACP state chapter and was fired, losing her pension after 40 years of teaching in the public school system.

She then went to Tennessee and began teaching at the Highlander Folk School, teaching illiterate sharecroppers to read, fill out driver's license exams and voter registration forms, sign checks and complete order forms from the Sears catalog. This was especially important as some states required literacy and the ability to interpret portions of the U.S. Constitution as prerequisites to voting. One of her students at Highlander was Rosa Parks (at right).

She and her cousin extended the Highlander concept into "Citizenship School," essentially, empowering the black community by not only teaching them how to read and write, but also engendering pride in one's self and one's culture and an understanding of one's rights as a U.S. citizens. This was the crossroads of her most important work with MLK, teaching people how to act collectively and protest nonviolently against racism. It has been estimated that by 1969, Mrs. Clark had been instrumental in registering 700,000 voters.

She and Dr. King, however, had their up's and down's. She felt that he was guilty of gender discrimination, denying women the same equality he sought for black men. She called him on it publicly, saying that women's being treated unequally was "one of the greatest weaknesses of the civil rights movement."

Upon her retirement, Mrs. Clark sued for reinstatement of the pension she lost when she was fired in 1956. She got it and went on to serve two terms on the Charleston County School Board, the same institution that had fired her so long ago. She was also awarded the Order of the Palmetto, South Carolina's highest civilian honor.

Septima P. Clark died on Dec. 15, 1987, and is buried at Old Bethel Methodist Church on Calhoun Street. One of Charleston's most prominent thoroughfares, the Septima P. Clark Parkway (commonly referred to as the Crosstown) was named in her honor, as was Septima P. Clark Academy on James Island.

SOURCES & MORE INFORMATION

Septima Clark wrote two autobiographies. The first, Echo In My Soul (1962), is a combination of her life story, her work at the Highlander Folk School, her views concerning the Jim Crow laws and the legitimacy of the Civil Rights Movement. The second, Ready from Within (1979), was an oral recollection of her life experiences.

Hear Mrs. Clark herself in this oral history interview with Jane Roth, One Person One Vote.

Freedom's Teacher: The Life of Septima Clark, by Katherine Mellen Charron. University of North Carolina Press, 2009.

Septima P. Clark Papers, ca. 1910-1990, at the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture.

"Septima P. Clark and the Struggle for Human Rights," by Grace Jordan McFadden in Women in the Civil Rights Movement: Trailblazers and Torchbearers 1941-1965. Ed. Vicki L. Crawford, Jacqueline Anne Rouse, and Barbara Woods. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, (1993) pp. 85–97 - ISBN 0-253-20832-7

The Avery Institute, 125 Bull St., founded by missionaries from Massachusetts in 1865, was the first accredited secondary school for African-Americans in Charleston. Upon completing sixth grade, Septima passed an exam that allowed her to enter Avery at the 9th grade level.

Mrs. Clark taught in the public school system for 40 years. In addition she voluntarily taught adults in the evenings. (Photo credit: Avery Institute)

Mrs. Clark set up schools to show African Americans how to take advantage of the new rights that were being opened to them. (Photo credit: Avery Institute)

When South Carolina passed a law banning city and state employees from being involved in the Civil Rights movement, Mrs. Clark, then vice president of the state NAACP chapter, refused to resign and was fired. (Photo credit: Avery Institute)

After being fired in South Carolina, Mrs. Clark moved to Tennessee, where she became active in the Highlander Folk School, teaching literacy courses to interracial classes. Rosa Parks (at right below) was one of her students. (Photo credit: Avery Institute)

Upon her retirement, Mrs. Clark sued and was awarded the pension she had been denied in 1956. She went on to serve two years on the Charleston County School Board. (Photo credit: Avery Institute)

Old Bethel Methodist Church on Calhoun Street.