All of us attended SCJH, but most of the world, and not even we, know anything about its historic name and the person it honors. In fact, even the thumbnail as listed with this story is a rendered photograph – pieced together by historians of what it was perceived she looked like.

In 1865, Susan V. Clark and her siblings were kicked out of the closest grammar school, Public School No. 2, in Muscatine, Iowa, after having attended for only two days. Because of this decision, which “The Muscatine Journal editorialized that this was a gross injustice since the Clarks were paying taxes for public schools,” Susan and her siblings were forced to attend the school for Black children that was nearly a mile away from their home (Clark 2020).

This school did its best to support its students, but the money funded was much less than that given to the surrounding white-only sources of education. The school was not a formal building; instead, it took place in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, which volunteered to hold the students and teachers during the day. Nevertheless, Susan continued to attend the school for two years. 

At this point, in 1867, Susan had completed everything the school had to offer. But, she wasn’t satisfied. She wanted to continue to the high school level like those attending Public School No. 2, except she was once again denied. Because of this, Susan and her father, Alexander Clark, sued in district court for her right to attend the same school as her white peers. 

They won their case, but the school appealed, meaning they felt the local court made an incorrect ruling regarding the case. In late spring, the Iowa Supreme Court revisited the case and also ruled in favor of Susan. 

“In the decision, Judge Chester C. Cole wrote that the Iowa State Constitution required that all young people in the state receive a quality education. He acknowledged that there was a tradition of segregated schools in Iowa but noted that the schools for Black children did not provide the same quality education as schools for white children. He concluded that this meant denying Black children the right to attend any public school in Iowa was a violation of the state constitution” (2026). 

This win came nearly an entire school year after they decided to sue, but a full 86 years before the landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling that also denied “separate but equal.” For Susan and her siblings, though, it was worth the wait to be able to continue their education just like everyone else. And, despite the continued racism throughout these four years, she ended up graduating in 1871 with honors and the opportunity to be one of the graduation speakers. 

This accomplishment made her the very first African American to integrate a U.S. public school by court order and ever graduate high school in the state of Iowa, which is exactly why Muscatine chose to name Susan Clark Junior High in her honor in 2019. 

Her strong-willed nature, inspired by her father, who was a respected business owner and active equal rights activist, continued long after her graduation too (Iowa PBS). She was a powerful voice within her community, but is notably mentioned for being “a leader in the Iowa Federation of Afro-American Women and statewide chairperson of the Mothers’ Child Study Committee, which encouraged Afro-American women to train and educate their youngsters in deportment, civic-responsibility, and the arts” (Clark 2020).