worth remembering...
THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF WILKIE CLARK

March 8, 1920 — July 29, 1989
As Told by his grandson, Wilkie Sherard Frieson... February, 2020 -- Black History Month
Picture
Wilkie Clark (1920—1989)
(Photo Courtesy Of
Charlotte A. Clark-Frieson)
My grandfather, Wilkie Clark was born in “Jim Crow” Georgia, on March 8, 1920 -- a mere 55 years after the end of chattel slavery in this country.

But, his family (grandparents Benjamin & Lizzie Baker) arises from the Springfield Community, right here in Randolph County, Alabama. (THIS BEING THE YEAR 2020, Next month, he would be 100 years old).

About the time of his birth in 1920, the only thing a black boy growing up in Alabama could EVER hope for was to farm (by working somebody else’s land) or be a sharecropper like the millions of former black slaves in the United States at that time. 

Blacks living in Alabama during this time period were not expected to achieve ANYTHING, or be anything or want anything including wanting to live a better life.

My grandfather grew up under a “Jim Crow Economy,” “Jim Crow Laws”, and a “climate of Lynching” across the United States. The intention of Jim Crow laws was to keep black folks enslaved by making them believe themselves to be INFERIOR in every way to whites. These “Jim Crow” laws forbade them from mingling with mainstream Americans. They were kept from voting; or exercising any rights to live and be free. They couldn’t even express themselves. Not even the desire to be free and equal; or to DESIRE to live better.

As a young boy, he chauffeured the well-known Dr. G. W. Bonner  (Dr. Gerson Wallace Bonner b. 2/24/1894 — d. 1/23/1980), a respected white doctor here in Roanoke. He became known as “Dr. Bonner’s Boy.” But by the time of his death in July of 1989, Wilkie Clark would not be remembered for being ANYBODY'S "Boy."  Our mother always told us stories about when our grandfather returned home from serving in the United States Army, and Dr. Bonner approached him about coming back to work for him (presumably as his chauffeur) and he refused, Dr. Bonner reportedly NEVER spoke to him again for the remainder of his life. 

In his 20s, he got drafted into the Army.  World War II was going on. He got a chance to travel overseas. He worked as a Surgical Tech, and earned Military Rank of Tech 5. His experiences away from Alabama taught him he could do more with his life and he could be more.

After being honorably discharged from the United States Army — at around age 24 — he returned home to Alabama. His mother Luella (Baker) Clark Holiday, who suffered from "heart dropsy" was very sick — and died almost as soon as he got back.  He had to bury her.  It was that experience of having to bury his mother at such a young age, that influenced his decision to become a funeral director and one day own his own funeral home.    In the meantime, he and most of his siblings had moved to Anniston, Alabama, where he took a job at "Bynum" which is what people called The "Anniston Army Depot".     The real inspiration for Funearl Home Ownership, however came from these post-military years living in Anniston, where he met and married Mrs. Hattie Lee Peters, a native of Anniston.   There in Anniston, AL he had the opportunity to observe Mr. Lucius Livingston Fleming a prominent citizen, and owner of Lucius Funeral Home.   Lucius Fleming was beloved and admired by every black citizen in the community, and was known far and wide.   We have dedicated an entire section of our website to Lucius Livingston Fleming.    Please visit the link to learn more about how he inspired our grandfather, Wilkie Clark. 

Because there were so many “Jim Crow” laws working against black people, (WORKING TO KEEP THEM POOR AND POWERLESS) he had no way to achieve his early dream to become a Funeral Director. He didn’t have anything — No education; No money; he couldn’t BORROW the money. He had a few friends, but they didn’t have anything either.  Despite being hard-working black people most of whom had sharecropped,  MOST BLACK PEOPLE IN ROANOKE were destitute.  There were very few black families who could be considered "affluent." 

BUT one thing he did realize was that he needed an education to advance in life. So he immediately enrolled in the Veterans class at COBB AVENUE HIGH SCHOOL IN ANNISTON, WHERE HE COMPLETED HIS HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA​! 

We do not believe that the mere completion of his high-school diploma really helped him to advance himself all that much.  In the years following his graduation from Cobb Avenue High in Anniston, he took a Job working for the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad.  Maintaining the railroad tracks.   This was probably around 1949.  This was a  humiliating, back-breaking common laborer position.    During this time, he actually worked in what was called the "Maintenance Of Way" Department.  This was lowly, often demeaning physically demanding work, where he experienced so many of the indignities of racism at its worst.  The travesty of enduring that type of treatment was — if he wanted his job — he HAD to take it.   Our mother has shared stories about his Railroad experiences in her book, Chief Cook and Bottle-Washer, The Unconquerable Soul Of Wilkie Clark. 

The OTHER thing he understood was that it was LARGELY the racism that was practiced all over the country, that prevented him from achieving his dream. Thus, he was so insightful that he somehow knew and accepted the fact that he HAD NO CHOICE but to get involved in the Civil Rights Movement, in order to progress in life. He HAD to become part of the solution to the greater problem that affected ALL BLACK PEOPLE.

The fact that he was just 0NE BLACK MAN struggling to live a decent life under the tremendous weight of racism, brought him to the realization that he HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO BECOME PART OF THE GROWING MOVEMENT  to help ALL BLACK CITIZENS, before things could get better for him.

HOW could he expect to be prosperous in ANY business, when the people he expected to patronize his business were DESTITUTE?  So, in the 1950s, he got involved in the NAACP.  He started working extremely hard not only locally, but at the State and Regional levels, in the field of Civil Rights, but he never lost sight of his goal to one day open and own a funeral home.

The NAACP was a national Civil Rights organization that thoroughly trained its leaders.  So, he began to travel to NAACP meetings.  He studied issues of racism and through his travels met many influencers and great legal minds who could help him acquire the knowledge he needed to improve himself.

He learned everything he could about business. He often attended seminars and workshops.  He did not keep the information he gained from attending the seminars and workshops, to himself.  He shared his knowledge with others in the community — tyring to let them know and make them aware of the information he had learned. Then as the laws began to change in favor of black people and black business ownership, the Small Business Administration was established.

It was by way of his connections through the NAACP, that he learned about the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), an Agency formed in 1953. The SBA now has offices in every state in the United States.  He began attending seminars and workshops to learn how to get an SBA Loan. He had to go to Birmingham, Alabama to apply for this loan. It was very hard, because the Loan Officer (​James C. Barksdale) didn’t want to approve the loan to start a funeral home.  It is our belief that during that time, Funeral Homes were considered a "Risky" type of business.  But, he persisted.  After many many trips to Birmingham, Alabama,  he finally succeeded in getting approved for the SBA loan.   The article linked was published in the July 6, 1969 Edition of our local newspaper, The Roanoke Leader.   It was reported by Birmingham SBA Deputy Director, Paul Brunson.    The SBA only loaned him $13,500.00 – WHICH WE STRONGLY FEEL WAS RACIALLY BIASED AND NOT NEARLY ENOUGH TO SET UP A NEW BUSINESS ADEQUATELY! -- and then gave him ONLY 6 years to pay it off. It was very very difficult but he eventually got it paid off.   I remember it like it was yesterday.  The SBA Loan payment was $226.00 per month for 6 long years.  At that time, that was a lot of money for a black man struggling to start his own business.   

So, in terms of YEARS, IT ACTUALLY TOOK HIM 25 more years, (he had reached age 49) before he could get his business off the ground. But, finally in 1969, he started remodeling an old rent house that my grandmother gave him; It was located right down the street from where he lived.

He had the house fixed up so beautiful; had poured pretty concrete porches; But, he had to petition the City of Roanoke to have it zoned for business. The neighbors — many whom were people that he went to church with -- protested.  My mother was there to witness it. SHE WEPT after witnessing how people turned out against her father whom she loved so dearly.   It hurt him very deeply and broke his heart into a million pieces to see so many of his church brethren from Bethel Methodist Church, at the City Council Meeting — there to protest his funeral home —  with a Petition bearing scores of names of black people — not just from Riley Street, but from all over the community,   Many of them were people he considered personal friends.   A lot of them were folks he had helped or personally assisted in one way or another.  But, still they were there to voice their dissent.  This was the "Bucket Of Crab" syndrome on full display.   

When we look back over his life and reconsider everything that happened back then, NOTHING about this entire matter seemed right.  After all, where his Funeral Home would have been located, was but a "rock's throw" from East Roanoke Funeral Home, which was just around the corner. There were cemeteries all over the neighborhoods — two right in East Roanoke in close proximity to where the Funeral Home would have been situated.   There was the Masonic Lodge Hall, right across the street from the property; and finally, we've wondered for years, how it came to be that our family homestead sat right across the street from the Hodges' family's Standard Oil Plant, which was both a fire and a health risk FOR YEARS and nobody ever brought up the issue of "zoning."  We wondered, when had the townspeople EVER been so concerned about anything going on in black neighborhoods.  

​Because of that, he was forced hire a house mover [Moore's House Moving Company (Somewhere Out Of Georgia] to pick the building up and have it moved to it’s present location. His beautifully remodeled rent house had to be cut in pieces in order to move it to the new location.   He moved the funeral home to its present location, on a red clay hill, where people would get stuck in mud, when they would drive up to the funeral home, but eventually, he was able to pour a concrete driveway. Little by little over the years, he made improvements on it. It took 6 years to pay the loan off.

Be that as it may, over the years The Clark's family homestead, Funeral Home business, AND the family itself evolved over time into a "nucleus" of the community, serving as a vital point of contact for anybody in trouble, in need of help, trying to navigate the oppressive racist machine that was so pervasive not only throughout our little community, but across the nation.   Wilkie Clark's understanding of racism, and thus his activism was heightened by the fact that his company was serving black people who — because of the racial barriers — were limited in their ability to do anything to advance themselves socially, politically, or economically.   Thus, as a consequence of the times that formed the setting in which he came into the world, he literally devoted his entire lifetime, from early adult-hood until his passing in 1989, to the Civil and Human Rights for the benefit of black people in our area. 

By the time he died in 1989, he had become a very well known and respected self-made man, who had devoted most of his life to his community, to helping others, serving the cause of Freedom, Justice and Equality for all people.

Along the way, he practiced the lessons all black people have had to learn. It’s not just enough to OWN the business. You’ve got to strive to be excellent and very GOOD – A MASTER at your craft. So he learned to consistently work on HIMSELF! WORKED TO MAKE HIMSELF AND HIS BUSINESS BETTER.

This is how we’ve managed to stay here for nearly 57 long years. Being THE BEST AT EVERYTHING THAT WE DO. DOING IT BETTER THAN ANYBODY ELSE.

NOTE: In all liklihood, if you purchase something after clicking on the link below, we will probably earn a few bucks from it.   Any commissions earned from this site will be gratefully received and applied to the continued advancement of the Clark Historic Site. 

Read Wikipedia Articles About the Life and Works Of Wilkie Clark:
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/articles/Wilkie_Clark
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilkie_Clark?oldformat=true
Read Wilkie Clark's Biography