This column by Daniel G. Clark about Alexander Clark (1826-1891) first appeared in the Muscatine Journal on February 7, 2024.
For the second time since February 1 became an official holiday, it was George Washington Carver Day. What better way to kick off Black History Month each year?
I attended the Carver Day celebration at Iowa State University, in the same Memorial Union Great Hall where, as a nine-year-old boy, I saw the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1960.
You can watch the entire event online. It lasts almost two hours and I highly recommend it. The program starts 17 minutes into the video.
If you watch nothing else, don’t miss Paxton Williams’ brilliant performance as Carver himself; a program he presented over 400 times. If you don’t know the Carver story, here’s an easy and fun way to learn about it. (Starts at 32:44.)
Another section I particularly like is where opera star Simon Estes and Ambassador Kenneth Quinn talk about the campaign for the holiday, which grew out of their call to honor Carver after the killing of George Floyd.
From her guest column in the Des Moines Register on June 21, 2020:
At this pivotal moment in our nation’s history, we call on the Iowa State Legislature to pass a resolution to erect a statue of George Washington Carver in the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. In doing so, legislators should express that the timing of this action is a response to the pain still felt intensely by so much of our population, suffering from the racism that continues to plague our country more than 150 years after George Washington Carver arrived in Iowa.
Although there is no law yet, the timing for the holiday was opportune: it was passed unanimously by both houses and signed by Governor Kim Reynolds less than two years later.
The Estes-Quinn duo welcomed the success on behalf of “more than 100 distinguished citizens and institutions of Iowa” who had supported the project.
Des Moines Register, June 19, 2022: “We co-led a Carver recognition initiative that made this moment possible. … We are deeply grateful that this action … provides Iowans a much-needed opportunity to come together each February, while ensuring that Carver’s inspiring story and historic legacy are highlighted for future generations.”
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Muscatine Journal, June 16, 2004: “Berneice Williams, the oldest living black woman in Muscatine, remembers when scientist and inventor George Washington Carver stayed at her home sometime in the 1920s.”
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Alexander Clark Day takes place every year on February 25th and is an opportunity to celebrate Black History Month in Muscatine thanks to a decision by the City Council in 2018.
This month’s program in the Alexander Clark Cultural Series (at least one event per year since 2012) will be held at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, February 27 at Muscatine Community College. “Squatters on Red Earth,” a new play by Mary Swander, explores the relationship between the Meskwaki people and the community that founded the Amana colonies.
There will also be a ceremonial opening event at the African American Museum of Iowa in Cedar Rapids on the 27th at 10 a.m. Participants from across the state are welcome.
Since 2022, it has undergone a $5 million renovation for flood protection work, but the project is almost complete and the museum expects to reopen in early April.
The December 11, 2022 Gazette quoted Executive Director LaNisha Cassell as saying, “No area will be left untouched by the project. From new ceilings, lighting, carpet and wall colors to upgrades in our Aldeen Davis Celebration Hall, restrooms and kitchen, everything will look and feel fresh.”
Cassell in The Gazette (December 31, 2023): “The African American Museum is an Iowa treasure and has been a voice for the voiceless for more than 30 years, leading the effort to break down the walls that limit us to a limited history. … The ongoing need for comprehensive and authentic history is why the (museum) was created and why it is necessary for all Iowans today and tomorrow.”
One of the museum’s major donors is the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust, based in Muscatine. Kirk Thompson of Muscatine is currently a member of the museum’s board of directors.
The current building was opened in 2003, but was severely damaged by floods in 2008.
The Gazette, December 19, 2000: “Representatives of the museum to be built in Cedar Rapids announced at a public ceremony in Muscatine that Muscatine philanthropists Richard and Mary Jo Stanley would donate $200,000 to the project. Thanks to the Stanleys’ donation, the center’s future Celebration Hall will be named for Aldeen Davis, a longtime Muscatine community activist, teacher, library board member and newspaper columnist. Davis died last August at age 84.”
“For 15 years, Davis wrote the column ‘Soul Food for Thought’ in the Muscatine Journal. She was also instrumental in preserving the home of Alexander Clark, an African-American from Muscatine who successfully argued before the Iowa Supreme Court in 1867 that his daughter should be allowed to attend a white public school.”
Next time: We are what we celebrate
