07/29/2026
Honoring The Life and Legacy of our visionary founders, Wilkie & Hattie Lee Peters Clark on the 37th Anniversary of my Father's Passing.
37 Years of Fighting Erasure: My Sacred Vow to My Father, Wilkie Clark, and My beloved Mother:
Thirty-seven years ago today, on July 29, 1989, my world was completely shattered. Just five months after losing my beloved mother, Hattie Lee Peters Clark, a devastating house fire took my father, Wilkie Clark. In a single year, the two foundational pillars of my life were gone.
Out of that unspeakable grief came a lifelong calling. I have spent the last 37 years as his daughter, frequent companion, and confidante meticulously documenting, protecting, and honoring his historic legacy. I do this because I saw firsthand the heavy price he paid.
Long before it was popular or safe, my father possessed the grit, unyielding backbone, and radical courage to stand up against the oppressive systems of the Jim Crow South. For over 30 years, he anchored Randolph County’s NAACP Branch #5053 as President. When others "jumped ship" out of fear, Daddy never shirked his duty and never backed down. Together with my mother — a brilliant educator who quietly steadied the ground beneath his feet—they turned our family business, Clark Memorial Funeral Service, into the unofficial headquarters of the local Civil Rights Movement in East Alabama.
They wanted his name forgotten. They wanted his work erased. But his blueprint for perseverance and unselfish service to humanity is too massive to be hidden.
"Daddy, your tragic end could never dim the light you left behind. The work continues, and your story is safe in my hands." 🕊️✊🏾
Please join me today in remembering a true giant, an unsung Civil Rights hero, and the man I am proudest to call my father. Explore his real, archived history at the Wilkie Clark Historic Landmark Site.
Your beloved daughter, ALWAYS AND FOR ETERNITY
Charlotte A. Clark-Frieson aka "Wilkie Clark's Daughter"
