• By Theodora M. Drozdowski
• Posted Thursday, January 19, 2012

Septima Clark—Education and Civil Rights

Black Women in American Culture and History is the theme for Black History Month 2012. Do you know about the accomplishments and contributions of southerner Septima Poinsette Clark? Often called the "Grandmother" of the Civil Rights Era, Clark (1898-1987) recognized that African American empowerment could only come about through education.

Southside presents NCSU historian Katherine Mellen Charron and "Septima Clark, Citizenship Education, and Women in the Civil Rights Movement," a consideration of the role Clark played as a southerner, a woman and an African American in the Civil Rights era, focusing on the "Citizenship Schools" of the 1950s and 60s. These grassroots schools taught thousands of disenfranchised African Americans to read and write in order to pass the required literacy tests imposed on them in order to register to vote.

Join us at Southside for a thoughtful presentation on the life and influence of one of the most influential women in 20th century American history. This project is made possible by a grant from the North Carolina Humanities Council, a statewide nonprofit and affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and brought to Southside Library through the Humanities Council's Road Scholar program.

For more information please call 336-703-2985.

Southside Library, Thursday, February 2nd, 3:30 pm

Please visit the North Carolina Humanities Council for more information about the content of this program and other Road Scholar programs.