CLARK HISTORIC LANDMARK SITE 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.
AN ALABAMA HISTORIC LANDMARK SITE

LIFE AFTER DEATH

WELCOME to this section of our site where we feature many of the local efforts to continue the Legacies of Wilkie and Hattie Lee (Peters) Clark after their deaths in 1989.   This section features events, organizations, and the community's efforts to remember their legacies and honor their sacrifices with respect to the social and economic issues that confronted them, and consumed the greater part of their lives.   These are issues that not only affected and shaped black communities in the past, but that continue to challenge our communities in the present. 

In this section, we use artifacts to exhibit and showcase our efforts to continue to serve as they served, to be vocal as they taught us to be; to reshape our communities as they reshaped them; and to be change agents as they were.

As a family, we vowed to continue the Clark Legacy:  (1) by continuing to operate the little Funeral Home Business that was his launching pad from economic bondage, to economic freedom, and that did indeed serve as "The Epicenter Of Black Movement."  However, more importantly was:  (2) our drive to continue working in the community as he worked, and reaching out to help those through OUR OWN Civil Rights Activism in order to continue to battle the racism, bigotry and sheer racial hatred that seemed so pervasive, so stubborn, and unyielding with regard to all black citizens' efforts to free themselves.   Amazingly, the death of the Clark's DID NOT STOP the unyielding problem of racism confronting blacks in our community.  If anything it got worse.  Therefore, we had to continue to press forward.

Again, we encourage ANYBODY who has documents, artifacts, or other interesting items that will help us tell the Clark Story, we would be very very interested in having them, or if you desire to retain your original copies, we will gladly accept copies.
1992-7-21 United States Department Of Education Office For Civil Rights 
                   Letter Responding to NAACP Discrimination Complaint #04-92-1526 Regarding Roanoke City Schools
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The following article appeared in 
The following Article appeared on Desert News entitled Board Suspends Principal in Alabama over Racial Talk
1994-04-01 The articles mentioned above actually propelled the Prom and Interracial Dating Issue into the national spotlight -- not that this was our intention (it just took on a life of it's own) -- however, on April 1, 1994, this article in one form or another appeared in newspapers all over the country.   A PARTIAL LIST appears herein.
Muncie Evening Press, Muncie, Indiana
The Manhattan Mercury, Manhattan Kansa
The Anniston Star, Anniston, Alabama
Daily Sitka Sentine, Sitka, Alaska
Elko Daily Free Press, Elko, Nevada
Hattiesburg American, Hattiesburg, Mississippi
The York Dispatch, York, Pennsylvania
The Herald, Jasper Indiana
The Noblesville, Ledger, Noblesville, Indiana
The Tyler Courier-Times, Tyler, Texas
Indiana Gazette, Indiana Pennsylvania
The Iola Register, Iola, Kansas
The Sheboygan Press, Sheboygan, Wisconsin
The Ukiah Daily Journal, Ukian California
The Sentinel, Carlisle, Pennsylvania
The Daily News, Lebanon, Pennsylvania

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Fort Worth TExas
The Post Crescent, Appleton, Wisconsin
The Indianapolis News, Indianapolis, IN
Lancaster New Era, Lancaster, PAThe Transcript, North Adams, Massachusetts
York Daily Record, York Pennsylvania
The Bismark Tribune, Bismark, North Dakota
The Philadelphia Daily News, Philadelphia, PA
The Muscatine Journal, Muscatine, Iowa
The Montgomery Advertiser, Montgomery, AL
Green Bay Press Gazette
Green Bay, Wisconsin
The News and Observer, Raleigh, North Carolina
The Fresno Bee, Frenso, California
The Tampa Tribune, Tampa, Florida
​The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

​Florida Today, Cocoa, Florida
Statesman Journal, Salem, Oregon
The Ithaca Journal, Ithaca, NY
Tampa Bay Times, St. Petersburg, Florida
The Billings Gazette, Billings, Montana
Victoria Advoca, Victoria, Texas
Argus-Leadur, Sious Falls, South Dakota
Wausau Daily Herald, Wausau, Wisconsin
Honolulu Advertiser, Honolulu Hawaii
The Evening Sun, Hanover, Pennsylvania
The Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, CA
The Missoulian, Missoula, Montana
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Honolulu, Hawaii
The Orlando Sentinel, Orlando, FL
The News Herald, Port Clinton, OHIO
​The Buffalo News
1994-04-06:   This New York Times Article is summarized as follows:  
Boycott in Alabama Protests Return of Principal
About one-fifth of the high school students here are boycotting classes to protest the reinstatement of a principal who threatened to ban interracial couples from the prom. The boycott began on Monday as classes resumed after spring break for the 680 students at Randolph County High School.
1994-4-6:  The Mobile Press-Register p.25  Wedowee Protest Growing
In this April 4, 1994 newspaper clipping, The Mobile Press Register reported on the growing protest within the Wedowee communities following the very public fall-out with Principal Hulond Humphries.  Mentioned in this article:  Charlotte A. Clark-Frieson, The Randoph County Branch 5053, NAACP, School Superintendent Jimmy Dale McKay, School Board Chairman, Geneva Messer; and others.
1994-04-11: (washingtonpost.com) Matter of Principal Shatters Small Town
The attachment below is a transcript of an online article that was published by the Washington Post electronic edition.
This is an "Editorial" type article that I wrote during the infamous "Randolph County School Controversy" which started in February of 1994.    This was written in response to comments from uninformed citizens' comments about who we are and what we stood for.
What follows here is an article written in the New York Times, entitled: Alabama Student Settles Lawsuit Over Principal's Racist Remarks
1994-06-26:  (The Montgomery Advertiser) "Morris Dees' Action In Prom Lawsuit Criticized)
The following August 9, 1994 LA Times article is entitled: "Principal In Prom Bias Case Removed" 
1994-9-7 [Education Week]  "New Calm Marks Opening of Storm-Tossed Alabama School"
By Drew Lindsay — September 7, 1994
https://www.edweek.org/education/new-calm-marks-opening-of-storm-tossed-alabama-school/1994/09
What follows here is a "Memorandum Opinion, by Judge Myron Thompson, regarding the Lee vs Randolph County Board Of Education lawsuit from 1995.
Just at the time we were really needing support from our NAACP National office, in the Randolph County School Controversy, we learned that our own National Office was in turmoil over leadership at the national level.  My colleague, Tony Malone and I traveled to Atlanta and were interviewed by Atlanta Journal-Constitution writer John Blake, concerning how the National Office situation was affecting local NAACP branches. 
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By February of 1997, Clark Memorial Funeral Service had reached it's 28th Year milestone as a business entity.  We thought it was proper to formally mark this achievement with a public program, when we held at Bethel United Methodist Church.  We entertained all our guests with a delicious meal, and raised about $1,500.00 in memory of my father, Wilkie Clark.  This money was later distributed, to charitable organizations in our community ande benefitted various causes.  Mr. John Ceroy Bell was appointed the Treasurer overseeing these funds.
On April 7, 2001, The Randolph County, Alabama Branch No. 5053, NAACP was conferred the Jondell Johnson Membership Activity Award for Outstanding Dedication at the 49th Annual Leadership Development & Training Institute, Nashville, Tennessee, by Reverend Charles L. White, Jr., Region V Director, NAACP
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April 7, 2001, Jondell Johnson Membership Activity Award, for Outstanding Dedication conferred to Randolph County Branch

AMY GOODMAN (DEMOCRACY NOW) INTERVIEWS CHARLOTTE A. CLARK-FRIESON
Remember the Alabama high school principal who touched off a furor when he banned interracial couples from the prom? Hulond Humphries lost that job, but he was sworn in last week as superintendent of schools in Randolph County, Alabama. The Wedowee school system made headlines in 1994 after Humphries threatened to cancel the prom if mixed-race couples attended. The Justice Department later accused Humphries of unfairness in dealing with black students. Subsequently the school burned to the ground and Humphries was removed as principal. Then last fall, he ran unopposed for county school superintendent and won. Guest: • Charlotte Clark-Frieson, president of the Randolph County NAACP and the first and only black member of the board of education.
In 2004, I was in the process of writing and publishing Wilkie Clark's biography "Chief Cook and Bottle-Washer" The Unconquerable Soul Of Wilkie Clark.  I felt a need to set up a business entity through which to channel the proceeds from these efforts with the ultimate goal of using said proceeds to assist in furtherance of our vision to preserve his history.
During that same period of time, I allied myself with several of my personal friends along with my father's con-temporaries, and we also formed another entity, which we idealized would exist as a Non-Profit Organization through which to promote and continue his benevolent work, promote historical significance of ALL African Americans in this are who made substantial contributions to our community's progress. 
2005-Feb-16 Wilkie Clark's Daughter Publishes Book About Father
15 years after my father's death, it dawned on me that I was about to turn 50 years old, and I still had not completed any of the important tasks that I had vowed to complete with respect to preserving my parents' history, and memorializing in some tangible way the important work they had done in our communities.   So, feeling the angst to get something down I started working on a Biography.   By 2005, it had manifest in the form of a published work entitled "Chief Cook & Bottle-Washer" The Unconquerable Soul Of Wilkie Clark.    The attached artifact from the Randolph Leader, details the book-debut event in addition to subsequent plans.
2005-6-16:  "No Mistakes, No More Tears"
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"No Mistakes No More Tears" Book Cover

“No Mistakes, No More Tears” refers to the 2005 biography No Mistakes, No More Tears: The Revonda Bowen Story edited by Vickie Cox Edmondson. It details the life of Revonda Bowen, who stood up against a high school principal in Wedowee, Alabama, after he allegedly made discriminatory remarks and threatened to cancel the prom over interracial dating
Book Details
Title: No Mistakes, No More Tears: The Revonda Bowen Story
  • ​Editor: Vickie Cox Edmondson, Ph.D.
  • Publication Date: June 16, 2005
  • Publisher: AuthorHouse
  • Subject: Civil rights and a student's stand against racism at Randolph County High School in Wedowee, Alabama. 
Amazon Book Summary:  [Link To Purchase Book On Amazon.com:  https://amzn.to/4ySBcyG]
Revonda Bowen knows a thing or two about standing up for herself. As the center of a media frenzy more than 10 years ago, Revonda stood up to the powerful principal of Randolph County High School in Wedowee, Alabama. Revonda contends the principal, Hulond Humphries, called her a mistake during an assembly when he attempted to cancel the junior-senior prom if interracial couples were to attend. The principal denied the allegation. But Revonda, a biracial woman who asked whom should she take to the prom, remembers it clearly. She remembers the tears that fell from her eyes as her classmates watched. Ms. Bowen was 16-years-old when that happened. Now, she is 27 years old and recalls that time in her life. Ms. Bowen and I compiled some of the most memorable articles, support letters, flyers, etc. from the events that ensued and captured the essence of that time in No Mistakes, No More Tears: The Revonda Bowen Story. Moreover, I contacted some of the key people who were involved in the struggle to address some of the racial issues at Randolph County High School such as Revonda's attorney, Morris Dees, and Charlotte Clark-Frieson, the lone black person on the county school board at the time. Additionally, I interviewed former students, some who were at the assembly. However, No Mistakes, No More Tears: The Revonda Bowen Story is more than Revonda's recollection of what happened 10 years ago. This book also tells of what happened to Revonda since that time. It is the story about her struggle to stand up for herself in other situations where she felt powerless. It is the story about her fight to be left alone. It is the story about her attempts to make the pain go away. It is the story of how she put herself in harm's way. It is the story of how she bounced back. Revonda Bowen is prepared, now, to talk about her mistakes. She has stopped crying. No Mistakes, No More Tears: The Revonda Bowen Story is her gift to all young people who must stand up for themselves.
2005-7-22  After organizing the Wilkie Clark Memorial Foundation, we worked continually pushing right on to our first program, which included the publication of a Black Weekly Newspaper. 
Read about the establishment Of The Clark Memorial Foundation HERE.
You can download our first edition of the newspaper by visiting the link below.
"COMMUNITY AGAINST POLLUTION AWARD"
On November 4, 2005, while we were publishing The People's Voice Weekly News,  our cousin, David Baker, who headed up a non-profit called "Community Against Pollution" CAP based in Anniston, Alabama; presented the following award for our publication efforts. 
To Learn More About The People's Voice, please visit the following link: ​https://sites.google.com/view/clarkmemorialfoundation/about/the-peoples-voice?authuser=2
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Public Announcement published in The People's Voice April 5, 2005

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2008-02-03  (The Montgomery Advertiser) Sample Ballots Published
Early In the year 2008, I was Gong-Ho Obama, and would have done almost anything to be a participant in his election.  During that election season, I qualified and ran for Delegate to the National Democratic Convention, representing Barack Obama.   I didn't win... BUT I DID MY BEST!
February 12, 2018, Clark Funeral Home and
​Charlotte A. Clark-Frieson honored by The City Of Roanoke
in recognition of Black History Month.
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MY hISTORIC 2018 rUN fOR aLABAMA hOUSE dISTRICT 37

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2018:  A DISASTEROUS YEAR FOR DEMOCRATS WITH POLITICAL ASPIRATIONS!
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2018-11-06:  After some "time off" from community involvement, and civil rights activism, I was sought out by The Randolph County Democratic Executive Committee, to Run for the Alabama Statehouse District 37.  I did agree to run for the office, and promptly qualified with the Alabama Democratic Executive Committee in Montgomery.   Although no one paid any attention, or highlighted this as a "historic" campaign, I was literally the first African-American to qualify and run for this particular office.   It was a real experience.  In this historic contest, I would be challenging Bob Fincher, the Republican incumbent (white), who had already served one complete term of office in the State House.    Without question, I knew this would be a tough race to win.  The artifacts shown below, details some of the facts concerning this effort.
What follows are newspaper clippings of the campaign announcements that appeared after I entered the race for House District 37.
During my Political Campaign For State Representative, I launched a Youtube Channel, that I thought I would use to communicate with the masses.  The YouTube Channel was Titled:  Clark-Frieson For Alabama House of Representatives District 37The Channel can be found at this link:  https://www.youtube.com/@clark-friesonforalabamahou2384
The videos you see in this section were produced by me, however, as the campaign rolled on, I became inundated with events, and travel, and therefore, found it totally impossible to continue to produce my own video messages.  I learned a lot from the experience.  This is why candidates really need managers.  Because there is entirely too much responsibility involved to depend on yourself to be your main resource.  For the entire duration of the campaign, I only had enough time to produce and publish three videos. 
"Let Me Explain":
In this section is one of my favorite campaign leaflets, that I entitled "Let Me Explain;"  And that is exactly what it was.  It was a brief "explainer" that I thought I was writing to really give myself a shot at inspiring people to vote for me, LET ALONE VOTE PERIOD!   I literally had thousands of these campaign leaflets made and distributed them all over District 37.  
2018 - The following link comprises my "VoteSmart" profile, where my positions on basic issues are discussed in detail.   VoteSmart.org
MY CAMPAIGN PHOTO ALBUM FROM THE 2018 MIDTERM ELECTION CYCLE
A ton of photos were generated during my campaign for Alabama State Representative.  SO MANY, that there's no way under the sun I can show all of them here.  But here are a few of my favorites, oldies but goodies for that adventure.
First set of Professional Candidate photos, taken in LaGrange, Georgia by
Me Experimenting with selfie head shots at home
Me Experimenting with selfie head shots at home
Me Experimenting with selfie head shots at home
Me Experimenting with selfie head shots at home
Me Experimenting with selfie head shots at home
First Professional "head shots" for State-level Candidates. These photos were made by Bedarius Bell, Jr. of Opelika, Alabama. After this photo Session, I literally fell in love with Bedarius for making me look so distinguished and beautiful. The photo session was arranged by Democratic House Leader Anthony Daniels from Huntsville, Alabama.
Michell French (Cahala) sitting inside our first campaign office, downtown Roanoke, Alabama
Professional Candidate Head Shots, In Front of the Alabama State Capitol, taken by Bedarius Bell, Jr., photographer for the Alabama Democratic Party.
Professional Candidate Head Shots, In Front of the Alabama State Capitol, taken by Bedarius Bell, Jr., photographer for the Alabama Democratic Party.
Professional Candidate Head Shots, In Front of the Alabama State Capitol, taken by Bedarius Bell, Jr., photographer for the Alabama Democratic Party.
Professional Candidate Head Shots, In Front of the Alabama State Capitol, taken by Bedarius Bell, Jr., photographer for the Alabama Democratic Party.
Charlotte A. Clark-Frieson
Dr. Joe L. Reed, Chairman of the Alabama Democratic Conference [ADC] The State's Black Political Caucus
Sue Bell Cobb, candidate
Dr. Joe L. Reed, Chairman of the Alabama Democratic Conference [ADC] The State's Black Political Caucus
Sue Bell Cobb
David B. Baker, Anniston, Alabama
David B. Bkaer
The Honorable Mayor Johnny Ford, Charlotte A. Clark-Frieson, Dr. Randy B. Kelley
The Honorable Mayor Johnny Ford, Charlotte A. Clark-Frieson, Dr. Randy B. Kelley
Charlotte A. Clark-Frieson talks to The Honorable Mayor Johnny Ford
Our First Campaign Office
Our First Campaign Office
Our First Campaign Office
Charles F. Moss
Charles & Tracey Moss Host a Fish Fry for Charlotte A. Clark-Frieson
Charles & Tracey Moss Hosted a Fish Fry for our Campaign
Michelle French speaking at Campaign Rally
Michelle French speaking at Campaign Rally
Pilgrim Baptist Church, Lanett, Alabama
JUNE - JULY, 2018 - Southern Union College's Wadley Campus Hit with the Threat of loosing its "Main Campus" Designation 
Sometime between June and July of 2018, our Community College, Southern Union State Community College faced the threat of loosing it's designation as the "Main Campus" of the institution, which had long maintained other campuses in Valley, and Opelika.  This became a real issue during the 2018 political campaign.    How or why this threat arose, I cannot recall, but will research this issue.   However, many concerned citizens used this as an issue to further heighten competition among political candidates.  While it did not start out as one of my "primary" platform issues, it quickly became one.     Below, is the letter that I wrote to the Alabama Community College System Board of Trustees, voicing my support of maintaining the "Main Campus" designation of SUSCC.   Although I did write a letter, I did not publicly release it, but I do believe that I added my voice to hundreds of others who were put off by the prospect of Wadley's Main Campus losing that designation when the institution had originated there in the early 1920's. 
HOW IT ENDED!
2018-11-06:  (The Valley Times News)  The following Article Detailed the contest between myself and Bob Fincher
Just last year, in 2020, a young man named Will Pickering, working on his Masters of Arts Degree at George Mason UNIVERSITY, Fairfax, Virginia, asked us to participate in an interviewed  about interracial dating and marriage going all the way back to the Randolph County High School controversy.  We gladly shared with Will, whatever information and commentary we could share regarding the issue.   A draft of his Thesis research appears below.
2025-1-5:  The Local N.A.A.C.P. Honors Charlotte A. Clark-Frieson with "Service And Dedication Award" Presented by President Delvan l. Houston
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2025-1-1: Proclamation Issued by the Randolph County, Alabama Branch #5053, NAACP, during Emancipation Proclamation Celebration entitled:  Proclamation Honoring Charlotte A. Clark-Frieson 
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