Clark, Septima (1898–1987)

Known as the “Grandmother of the American Civil Rights Movement,” she was the vice president of the Charleston chapter of the NAACP and a strong civic activist. Barred from teaching in Charleston, she developed the Citizenship Schools, teaching basic literacy skills so that people would be able to register to vote. She worked closely with W. E. B. Du Bois and the SCLC that adopted the program in 1961. Clark was active within the YWCA and taught in public schools for most of her life.