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P4 The Panther
February 20. 1995
Why Don’t We Know Who Clark Was?
By Ytasha L. Womack
Staff Writer
Ask the typical Clark
Atlanta University student
who Clark was and they’re
sure to shrug their shoulders
in ignorance. Step on the wild
side, if you will, and ask a
CAU faculty member the
same question and you’ll
probably get a similar
response.
Perhaps that question is too
difficult, you think quietly.
Maybe you should ask one
covering a broader perspec
tive. With hopes of getting a
more satisfying reply, you ask
your fellow classmates, “Do
you know anything about the
history of CAU?” Their
responses may be as follows:
“What do you mean?”
“Uh, I learned a lot in fresh
man year but I forgot.”
“W.E.B. DuBois founded
Atlanta University, right?”
“I just know Clark College
was founded in 1865 and
Atlanta University in 1869.”
“I just know I go to school
here.”
Thousands of youth flock
to historically black institu
tions of “Higher Learning”
with hopes of being
culturally enlight
ened and acquiring
a deeper under
standing of black
history. However,
it is obvious that
this initial attraction
has become a faded
remnant of HBCUs'
nostalgia for a sig
nificant number of
CAU students. The
fact that few have even ques
tioned who “Clark” was and
what his first name, are evi
dence of how the “know your
history” comments, spurted by
many, is little more than
empty rhetoric.
Blame it on CAU, blame it
on Freshman Orientation
classes or simply admit that
you don’t really care. Either
way, this blatant ignorance of
the history of our own educa
tional institution is sad.
To be brief, exceedingly
brief, Atlanta University was
founded in 1865, the year the
Civil War ended, by the
American Missionary
Association and later assisted
by the Freedmen’s Bureau
(remember them from your
Reconstruction lessons?) Four
years later, in 1869, Clark
College was founded by the
Freedmen’s Aid Society of the
Methodist Episcopal Church
which is now the United
Methodist Church.
Atlanta University was a
renowned institution and the
oldest graduate school with a
predominantly black
student body.
W.E.B. DuBois, pro
found activist and
historian and one of
the founders of the
NAACP, was a facul
ty member of Atlanta
University. In addi
tion, DuBois devel
oped the curriculum
for the Sociology
Department.
Clark College’s first presi
dent was Bishop Gilbert
Haven, sound familiar?
William Henry Crogman was
the institution’s first black
president.
Now it’s time to answer the
question you never asked,
“Who was Clark?” Clark, or
rather, Bishop David W.
Clark, was the first president
of the Freedmen’s Aid Society
for the Methodist Church.
I hope this tidbit of infor
mation is enough to spark
your interest in the school’s
history; there’s more folks.
Now that you know Haven, go
look into Warren. Visit the
Art Gallery in Trevor Arnett
and ask what makes it so his
torical. Or look into any of the
14 historical collections now
in Woodruff Library.
Ask questions! Who was
Brawley Hall named after?
Why is the campus divided?
And finally, maybe someone
will ask the question no one
has ever asked: Why does
every student and faculty
member who addresses the
student body use the word
“matriculate?”
Blame it on CAU, blame it on
Freshman Orientation classes or
simply admit that you don't
really care. Either way, this
blatant ignorance of the history
of our own educational
institution is sad.
E Clark Atlanta University
anther
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