Susan Clark & the End of Segregated Iowa Schools

December 26, 2019 3:41 pm

Sunday, January 19, 2020
West Des Moines Public Library
Susan Clark & the End of Segregated School In Iowa
Presented by Leo Landis

State curator Leo Landis of the State Historical Society of Iowa will review the history of segregated schools in Iowa from the 1850s to the 1870s. Susan Clark, an 11-year old from Muscatine, was the plaintiff in the case that led to the end of segregated schools in Iowa in 1868, 86 years before Brown v. Board of Education. Even after the Clark case some towns including Des Moines maintained separate schools for African-Americans into the 1870s. The program will discuss Susan Clark, her father Alexander, and Iowa’s history of offering equal access to K-12 education.