Augusta "Gussie" Clark (March 5, 1932 – October 13, 2013) was an American

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time, ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. Clark was elected to an

at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather than ...

seat on the

Philadelphia City Council The Philadelphia City Council, the legislative body of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, consists of ten members elected by district and seven members elected at-large. The council president is elected by the members from among their number. Each ...

in 1979, becoming the second

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

woman to serve on the city council. ( Ethel D. Allen, who served on the council from 1972 to 1979, was Philadelphia's first African-American councilwoman.) Clark served on the Philadelphia City Council from 1980 until her retirement in 2000.

Biography

Early life

Clark was born Augusta Alexander on March 5, 1932, in

Uniontown, Alabama Uniontown is a city in Perry County, Alabama, in west-central Alabama. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city is 2,107, up 18.7% over 2010. Of the 573 cities in Alabama, Uniontown is the 207th most populous. Uniontown has four sites l ...

, to Harrison and Lula B. Alexander. She was raised in

Fairmont, West Virginia Fairmont is a city in and county seat of Marion County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 18,313 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Fairmont Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Marion County, a ...

, and earned her

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

from

West Virginia State College West Virginia State University (WVSU) is a public historically black, land-grant university in Institute, West Virginia. Founded in 1891 as the West Virginia Colored Institute, it is one of the original 19 land-grant colleges and universities ...

, now known as

West Virginia State University West Virginia State University (WVSU) is a public historically black, land-grant university in Institute, West Virginia. Founded in 1891 as the West Virginia Colored Institute, it is one of the original 19 land-grant colleges and universities ...

. She met her future husband, Leroy W. Clark, while both were students at West Virginia State, though they did not marry until 1960, when both were living in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. The couple had two children, Mark and Adrienne. She had moved to Philadelphia after college for professional reasons. She was a member of the Bright Hope Baptist Church from 1954 until 2013.

Career

Clark moved to Philadelphia when she was hired as an assistant on the now defunct ''Color'' magazine. ''Color'', which was based on ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...

'' magazine, was targeted for African-American readers. However, ''Color'' folded and went out-of business. Clark became a graduate student at

Drexel University Drexel University is a private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a financier and philanthropist. Founded as Drexel Institute of Art, S ...

soon after the magazine's closure, where she received a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

library science Library science (often termed library studies, bibliothecography, and library economy) is an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary field that applies the practices, perspectives, and tools of management, information technology, education, and ...

. She worked as a

in Philadelphia. Clark next enrolled at the

Temple University Beasley School of Law The Temple University James E. Beasley School of Law is the law school of Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1895 and enrolls about 530 students. Student body Admission for fall 2019 entering class was highly compe ...

when she was 39 years old and earned her

law degree A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Such degrees are generally preparation for legal careers. But while their curricula may be reviewed by legal authority, they do not confer a license themselves. A legal license is gra ...

. Clark worked as on the election campaign of William H. Gray, who was elected to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

in 1978. Philadelphia community and political figures encouraged her to run for a seat on the Philadelphia City Council the following year. Augusta Clark was elected as a Democratic councilwoman-at-large in 1979, becoming only the second African-American woman to serve on the city council. Clark served on the Philadelphia City Council, representing a citywide at-large seat, from 1980 to 2000. She became the chair of the council's Education Committee for twelve years. She was known as a vocal advocate for the

School District of Philadelphia The School District of Philadelphia (SDP) is the school district that includes all school district-operated public schools in Philadelphia. Established in 1818, it is the 8th largest school district in the nation, by enrollment, serving over 200 ...

. She was an opponent of

school voucher A school voucher, also called an education voucher in a voucher system, is a certificate of government funding for students at schools chosen by themselves or their parents. Funding is usually for a particular year, term, or semester. In some cou ...

s, arguing the program would remove money from the public school system. Clark allied with the then-President of the Philadelphia City Council, John F. Street, to pass a 10% liquor tax, which was used as an additional source of revenue for public schools. Clark chaired the Public Property and Public Works Committee and served as the city council's Democratic

majority whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology ...

for a time. Clark retired from the city council in 2000. In a 2000 interview with ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

'', Clark explained that she felt it was the right time to retire, saying, "I think elected office is like poker...I think you have to know when to hold them and know when to fold them. And when you feel you have amassed a body of work that satisfies you." Augusta Clark died at

Lankenau Medical Center Lankenau Medical Center, part of Main Line Health, is a 370-bed acute care, teaching hospital in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. Lankenau Medical Center has been named as one of the top 5 hospitals in the Philadelphia region by '' U.S. News & World Repo ...

Wynnewood, Pennsylvania Wynnewood is a suburban unincorporated community, located west of Philadelphia, straddling Lower Merion Township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania and Haverford Township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The community was named in 1691 for Dr. ...

, on October 13, 2013, at the age of 81. She was survived by her two children, Mark and Adrienne, and four grandchildren. Her husband, Leroy W. Clark, died in 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Augusta 1932 births 2013 deaths Philadelphia City Council members Pennsylvania lawyers African-American librarians American women librarians American librarians Pennsylvania Democrats Temple University Beasley School of Law alumni Drexel University alumni West Virginia State University alumni People from Uniontown, Alabama Politicians from Fairmont, West Virginia Women city councillors in Pennsylvania African-American city council members in Pennsylvania African-American women in politics 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women Librarians from West Virginia Lawyers from Fairmont, West Virginia