Clark Funeral Home, Roanoke, AL - An Alabama Historic Site
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  • ABOUT
    • The Life & Legacy Of Wilkie Clark
    • The Life & Legacy Of Mrs. Hattie Lee Peters Clark
    • CONTACT
  • DOCUMENT REPOSITORY & HISTORICAL ARTIFACTS
    • GENERAL INFORMATION >
      • 1939 - August 11, 1939: Diploma from Alabama A & M
      • First Mention Of Wilkie Clark In A Newspaper
      • 1941 - Registration For The Draft
      • 1941- 1945 - Military Service
      • 1948: Mr. & Mrs. Clark Wed In Anniston
      • 1949: Cobb Avenue High School Veterans Class
      • 1951: August 10, 1951-Bachelor Of Science Degree in Elementary Education
      • 1951: Voting
      • 1973: Tommy L. Wilkes Controversy
      • 1976: The Clark's Venture Into Politics
      • 1978 - February 28,1978 - Councilman George Poole
      • Emancipation
      • 1981 - "Y-A-W-N" Edgar Stevenson IRES Black Community
      • 1981 - July 18 - The Clark's Incorporate Clark Funeral Home
      • 1988-8-9 [THE ANNISTON STAR]-Bush Scores With Speech
      • Hear Him Speak
      • February 23, 1989 - A Special Visitor The Day Mama Died
      • Anniston Star Article On Mama's Passing
    • EDUCATION >
      • EDUCATION: Before-Desegregation
      • EDUCATION: After Desegregation >
        • 2005-December: Rosella Knight Parker Story
      • DR. EFFIE JEAN FIELDS' RESEARCH
    • NAACP PROGRAMS AND INITIATIVES
    • POLICING
    • POLITICS
    • CHURCH/RELIGIOUS
    • RECREATION >
      • 1989, JUNE: SUMMER CAMP
    • VOTING RIGHTS >
      • The 1980s: A Decade Of Voting Rights Activism
      • 1983: Working To Implement Deputy Voter Registrars
      • 1984 - NAACP Supports Roanoke Suit
    • MRS. HATTIE P. CLARK: A Prolific Letter Writer
    • WILKIE CLARK'S DEATH
    • The Wilkie Clark Memorial Foundation
  • LIFE AFTER DEATH
  • PAY RESPECTS
  • PHOTO GALLERY
  • VIRTUAL TOURS
  • UPDATES
  • SHOP
  • New Page

Clark Funeral Home, Roanoke, Alabama

A Guided Digital Tour Of The Lives, Legacies and Works Of Wilkie And Hattie Lee (Peters) Clark as presented by their offspring:  their only daughter, Mrs. Charlotte A. Clark-Frieson; grandson, Wilkie S. Frieson, and Granddaughter, Je'Lynn M. Frieson.
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February 23, 1989 - A Special Visit From Mayor Johnny Ford

PictureReverend John W. Forbes, Jr., Mayor Johnny Ford, Reverend Lathonia Wright, Wilkie Clark February 23, 1989
This photograph captures a very special moment in the history of the Clark family.

This photo was taken by Charlotte A. Clark-Frieson, on February 23, 1989 -- it was NO ORDINARY DAY.  This was the day that Mrs. Hattie Lee Peters Clark passed away.

The family had just arrived home from Randolph County Hospital, where Mrs. Clark had lingered in the ICU for about a week.  She finally succumbed and because of the bereavement, the family's pastor, The Late Reverend John W. Forbes was there, along with Reverend Lathonia J. Wright.


Mayor Johnny Ford, who was one of the most influential black politicians in the State of Alabama knocked at the door, and though we were bereaved and grief-stricken over the loss of Mrs. Clark, we all were engulfed with pride when Mayor Ford walked into the Clark residence. 

At this time, Mayor Ford was running for the United States House of Representatives from District 3 (The seat currently held by Congressman Mike Rogers (R), and somehow he learned that Wilkie Clark was somebody who might could help him to rally the black vote in Randolph County, and he knocked on the door.   

This was a surreal moment for everybody in the house because -- though we were grief-stricken -- we were momentarily extricated from that blackness because of the honor we felt to have such a personality as Mayor Johnny Ford to grace our home.   I seized on the moment to capture it in a photograph.
 
We feel this one picture is worth 1000 words, because it certainly is testament to the influence Wilkie Clark and his name and reputation carried with it, in his community.     

If you notice, Wilkie Clark's eyes were red from nights of sitting in the ICU in the week leading up to his wife's death.  They were also red from crying as hardly an hour had gone by since she passed.

CLARK HISTORIC SITE, Roanoke, alabama  36274

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Copyright © April 30, 2020
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • The Life & Legacy Of Wilkie Clark
    • The Life & Legacy Of Mrs. Hattie Lee Peters Clark
    • CONTACT
  • DOCUMENT REPOSITORY & HISTORICAL ARTIFACTS
    • GENERAL INFORMATION >
      • 1939 - August 11, 1939: Diploma from Alabama A & M
      • First Mention Of Wilkie Clark In A Newspaper
      • 1941 - Registration For The Draft
      • 1941- 1945 - Military Service
      • 1948: Mr. & Mrs. Clark Wed In Anniston
      • 1949: Cobb Avenue High School Veterans Class
      • 1951: August 10, 1951-Bachelor Of Science Degree in Elementary Education
      • 1951: Voting
      • 1973: Tommy L. Wilkes Controversy
      • 1976: The Clark's Venture Into Politics
      • 1978 - February 28,1978 - Councilman George Poole
      • Emancipation
      • 1981 - "Y-A-W-N" Edgar Stevenson IRES Black Community
      • 1981 - July 18 - The Clark's Incorporate Clark Funeral Home
      • 1988-8-9 [THE ANNISTON STAR]-Bush Scores With Speech
      • Hear Him Speak
      • February 23, 1989 - A Special Visitor The Day Mama Died
      • Anniston Star Article On Mama's Passing
    • EDUCATION >
      • EDUCATION: Before-Desegregation
      • EDUCATION: After Desegregation >
        • 2005-December: Rosella Knight Parker Story
      • DR. EFFIE JEAN FIELDS' RESEARCH
    • NAACP PROGRAMS AND INITIATIVES
    • POLICING
    • POLITICS
    • CHURCH/RELIGIOUS
    • RECREATION >
      • 1989, JUNE: SUMMER CAMP
    • VOTING RIGHTS >
      • The 1980s: A Decade Of Voting Rights Activism
      • 1983: Working To Implement Deputy Voter Registrars
      • 1984 - NAACP Supports Roanoke Suit
    • MRS. HATTIE P. CLARK: A Prolific Letter Writer
    • WILKIE CLARK'S DEATH
    • The Wilkie Clark Memorial Foundation
  • LIFE AFTER DEATH
  • PAY RESPECTS
  • PHOTO GALLERY
  • VIRTUAL TOURS
  • UPDATES
  • SHOP
  • New Page