Biographical Database of NAWSA Suffragists, 1890-1920
Biographical Sketch of Alice B Clark, ?-1938
By Samantha Randall, student, Colorado State University
Superintendent of Schools, Garfield County, CO; Deputy Superintendent for the Department of Public Instruction, Denver CO
Alice B. Clark (born McCormick) was originally from Garfield County, Colorado, and made a name for herself as a hard working teacher. She was born in the late-nineteenth century and lived most of her life in Rifle and Glenwood, Colorado. She held many titles, including Superintendent of Schools in Garfield County for four years, and was known for her sunny disposition. She held the office of Deputy Superintendent for the Colorado Department of Public Instruction under Mary C. C. Bradford (another prominent Colorado suffragist) and was both Deputy Superintendent and Secretary Ex-officio for the State Board of Education and the State Board of Examiners. She was also the secretary for the Permanent School Emergency Fund Board. She held the office of Deputy Superintendent for the Department of Public Instruction for twelve years, from 1908 through 1920, before she retired. In 1921, she accepted a government job in social service work.
In 1908, Clark, Bradford, and several other Colorado women were delegates or alternates in presidential nominating conventions. Clark's name also appears on a petition for a constitutional amendment for women's suffrage.
She was married and began teaching in 1901 but unfortunately had to quit by December to take care of her ill husband. Clark had at least two children, Dr. L. B. Clark and a Mrs. Gretta Pottinger, and raised them while working as a teacher, suffragist, and climbing the ladder of her profession. Both of her children went on to be successful. Pottinger followed in her mother's footsteps as a teacher and ran for county Superintendent of Schools, while Dr. L.B. Clark became a dentist.
Alice B. Clark died in January, 1938, less than a year before the death of her son. She died with a lifetime of achievements and hard work behind her, as well as children to be proud of. After she was widowed she went right back to work and thrived, moving from a leadership role in her county to a leadership role in her state. She fought for women's rights through signing petitions and going to presidential nominating conventions, even after her own state had already given women the right to vote.
Sources:
"Local Briefs." Aspen Daily Times, November 15, 1908. Accessed April 17, 2017. https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/cgi-bin/colorado?a=d&d=ADT19081115.2.37&srpos=95&e=-------en-20--81--txt-txIN-%22Alice B. Clark%22-------0-#.
"Candidate from the Western Slopes." Aspen Democrat, September 3, 1908. Accessed April 17, 2017. https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/cgi-bin/colorado?a=d&d=TAD19080903.2.12&srpos=7&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-Alice B clark-------0-#.
Bradford, Mary C. C. Colorado Educational Directory. Vol. 1917-1918. CO: Colorado Department of Public Instruction, 1917.
"Neighborhood Gossip." Craig Empire, March 23, 1921. Accessed April 17, 2017. https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/cgi-bin/colorado?a=d&d=CRE19210323-01.2.31&srpos=98&e=-------en-20--81--txt-txIN-%22Alice B. Clark%22-------0-#.
"Churches and Schools." Rifle Reveille, December 19, 1902. Accessed April 17, 2017. https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/cgi-bin/colorado?a=d&d=TRR19021219.2.64&srpos=97&e=-------en-20--81--txt-txIN-%22Alice Clark%22-------0-ChromeHTML\Shell\Open\Command#.
"Seventy Teachers Attend Institute." Salida Mail, July 2, 1907. Accessed April 17, 2017. https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/cgi-bin/colorado?a=d&d=SDM19070702-01.2.2&srpos=67&e=-------en-20--61--txt-txIN-%22Alice B. Clark%22-------0-.
Harper, Ida Husted, et al., eds. History of woman suffrage. Vol. 6. [LINK to Colo report]
"News of our Neighbors." Steamboat Pilot, January 20, 1938. Accessed April 17, 2017. https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/cgi-bin/colorado?a=d&d=STP19380120.2.50&srpos=21&e=-------en-20--21--txt-txIN-%22Dr. L. B. Clark%22-------0-#.
"Authorized County Political Cards." Telegram-Reveille (Rifle, CO), September 2, 1920. Accessed April 17, 2017. https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/cgi-bin/colorado?a=d&d=RTR19200902-01.2.45.1&srpos=11&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-%22Gretta Clark%22-------0-#.
United States, Congress. Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the Second Session of the Sixty Fifth Congress of the United States of America. Washington D.C: US Government Printing Office, 1918.