The Muscatine businessman whose 1868 lawsuit desegregated Iowa's public schools — 86 years before Brown v. Board.
Alexander G. Clark, a Black barber and businessman, built a prosperous life in Muscatine, Iowa, and became a leading voice for equal rights. When his daughter Susan was turned away from an all-white public school, he sued.
In 1868 the Iowa Supreme Court ruled in his favor in Clark v. Board of Directors, desegregating Iowa's public schools decades before the U.S. Supreme Court's 1954 Brown decision. He later helped his sons and himself earn University of Iowa law degrees, and served as U.S. Minister to Liberia.
Clark's victory made Iowa an early leader in school integration, and his family broke barriers at the University of Iowa. His restored Muscatine home is a National Historic Landmark.
He is remembered as one of the most important civil-rights figures in Iowa history.
The Muscatine businessman whose 1868 lawsuit desegregated Iowa's public schools — 86 years before Brown v. Board.
Alexander Clark was from Muscatine, Iowa.
1826–1891.
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