Clark, Septima, circa 1982
Scope and Contents
The Jean-Claude Bouffard Civil Rights Interviews collection, 1982, contains oral history interviews with Septima Clark, Mary Moultrie, and Bernice Robinson as well as recordings of lectures that Septima Clark and Thomas R. Waring, Jr. gave to Bouffard's College of Charleston class in the summer of 1982. Participants discuss a wide range of topics including their family history and upbringing, their involvement in the Civil Rights Movement and organizing with the Charleston Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Highlander Folk School, Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), African American leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr., Kwame Ture (Stokley Carmichael), Ralph Abernathy, and Jesse Jackson, segregation in Charleston and, more broadly, in education, and the 1969 Hospital Workers Strike.
More information about the contents of each oral history or lecture can be found within the abstract at the file-level of each recording.
Dates
- Creation: circa 1982
Creator
- From the Collection: Bouffard, Jean Claude (Person)
Access Restrictions
No restrictions. A cassette player will be made available to researchers in the Avery Research Center's Reading Room to listen to the audiocassettes.
Full Extent
From the Collection: .209 linear feet (1 narrow document box and 5 audiocassettes)
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
Abstract
In this interview with Jean Claude Bouffard, a visiting professor from the University of Sorbonne, Septima Poinsette Clark (1898-1987) talks about her upbringing in Charleston, South Carolina and her family history. She recalls in detail her first teaching experience and the living conditions on John's Island (Johns Island) between 1916 and 1919. Clark refers to her relationship with W. E. B. DuBois, whom she met for the first time in 1937 at Atlanta University. The interview talks at length about the Civil Rights Movement, its development, and achievements – particularly Dr. King’s commitment to non-violence. Clark recalls meeting Dr. King at a Highlander Folk School in Tennessee in 1957, and describes his selfless, non-materialistic character. She refers to several incidences with the Ku Klux Klan throughout the South, and especially recounts the weeks leading up to Dr. King’s assassination on April 4, 1968. Clark also refers to the discrepancies and tensions between the Southern Christian Leadership Council (SCLC) and Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). The interview also inquires about the role of women in the Civil Rights Movement, in particular Ella Baker’s refusal to join Dr. King in his efforts, as well as tensions between Ruby Hurley, founder of the Niagara Movement, and the NAACP. The interview closes by Clark recalling the fragility of the SCLC after Dr. King’s assassination and refers to financial disputes among his heirs.
The oral history is conducted by Jean Claude Bouffard.
There are two interviews with Clark on 500.009.001. The first is all of Side 1 and then about 20 minutes of Side 2. The tape then goes silent for a bit, followed by Bouffard briefly talking about Clark in French, and then a new interview with Clark begins with Bouffard thanking her for joining him again since they last met up a few weeks ago.
Repository Details
Part of the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture Repository
125 Bull Street
Charleston South Carolina 29424 United States
843-953-7608
averyresearchcenter@cofc.edu