Hartford Changemakers

John C. Clark Jr. (1914-1966)

Civic Leader

John C. Clark, Jr. was born in Eastman, Georgia in 1914.  With other family members, he migrated to Hartford in 1929.  He graduated from Hartford Public High School in 1934.  He subsequently served in the U.S. Army, 1210^th Engineering Regiment during World War II, in both the European and Pacific theaters of operation.  Upon separating as a 1st. Lieutenant, he enrolled and graduated in 1947 second (solitarian) in his class from the New England Institute of Anatomy, Embalming, and Mortuary Science.  He subsequently was a contract analyst for the Travelers Insurance Company for several years prior to opening and establishing the John C. Clark Funeral Service.  Years later he would be appointed by Governor Abraham Ribicoff to the State Board of Examiners of Embalmers and Funeral Directors.

John C. Clark, Jr. launched his political career in 1955 when he became a candidate for the Hartford Court of Common Council.  He received endorsement by the Citizens Charter Committee and was among 37 other candidates who entered the October primary.  He survived the primary, and was then endorsed by the Democratic Town Committee.  On November 8, 1955 he was successfully elected to the Hartford City Council.  He became the first African American elected to public office in Hartford and to the Hartford Court of Common Council serving from 1955 to 1963.

During his eight-year tenure on the city council, he was a vigorous champion of human rights and fair play for all.  Mr. Clark took a strong stand on the fair rent problem in the city and drafted the legislation that created the Fair Rent Committee.  In 1956 he initiated a program to rid the city of rats and improve housing conditions throughout the city.  He called for a study of the McCook Hospital’s needs in 1960.  In 1961, as chair of the City Council’s Housing and Development Committee, he advocated a study of “credit blacklisting” in Hartford neighborhoods.  Mr. Clark was principally responsible for the creation of the city’s Human Relations Committee serving as its first chairperson. 

Mr. Clark also served as chairperson of the Education Committee for the Community Renewal Team of Greater Hartford.  A year after retiring from the city council in 1964, he was appointed to the Hartford Redevelopment Agency, and also served as a delegate to the 1965 Connecticut Constitutional Convention.  He was a director of the Hartford Heart Association, and served as a deacon and trustee of the Faith Congregational Church.  Mr. Clark was the recipient of numerous awards including the Hartford Jaycees Good Government award, and the Omega Psi Phi New England Man of the Year Award.

After he left the City Council, he was honored at a testimonial dinner attended by the entire council, the governor, many city and state leaders, and a representative of then- President Lyndon B. Johnson.

John C. Clark, Jr. died of cancer on August 19, 1966 at the age of 52.

In 1966 three new schools were directed to be constructed.  On September 8, 1966 the Hartford Board of Education voted unanimously to name one of them, a new elementary school, the John C. Clark, Jr. School in his honor and in recognition of “his personal contributions to Hartford’s civic life.”  The John C. Clark, Jr. School on Clark Street opened in September of 1971.  (The street, which was laid out in the 19^th century, was named for another Clark family.)  The school was rededicated on May 19, 1995.

John C. Clark, Jr.’s outstanding record of public service is an inspiration to all those who aspire to learn, achieve, and contribute to their communities.