Early Years and Art Career
Adèle Goodman Clark was born on September 27, 1882, in Montgomery, Alabama, and was the daughter of Robert Clark and Estelle Goodman Clark. During her childhood her family moved several times, to Virginia, to Mississippi, back to Alabama, and then to Louisiana. After her family settled in Richmond about 1894, she enrolled in Virginia Randolph Ellett's school (later Saint Catherine's School). She graduated in 1901, studied art privately with Lily M. Logan and at the Art Club of Richmond, and in 1906 received a scholarship to the Chase School of Art (later the New York School of Art and eventually the Parsons School of Design), where she studied with William Merritt Chase and Robert Henri.
Suffrage Activity
Clark's life exemplified the crucial role women played in the social reform movements of the twentieth century. She applied her sharp intellect, artistic skills, and determination to champion women and the arts. Her interest in the woman suffrage movement began in 1909. On November 27 of that year Clark and other civic-minded women held a meeting to establish a statewide suffrage organization. Many of them wanted the vote in order to work more effectively for the passage of health, education, and child labor laws.
Other Social and Political Work
In 1922 the governor appointed Clark to the Commission on Simplification and Economy of State and Local Government, on which she served for almost two years as secretary. In 1928 the next governor appointed her to a nine-member commission, of which she also became secretary, to study the feasibility of establishing a new liberal arts college for women at one of the state teachers' colleges. From March through September 1926 Clark was acting social director of women at the College of William and Mary, which had become coeducational in 1918.
Later Years
On February 2, 1973, Clark's photograph appeared on the front page of the Richmond Times-Dispatch with the skeptical headline, "Beginning of an ERA?" The ninety-year-old Clark and 800 other people had attended a public meeting to express their opinions of the proposed Equal Rights Amendment. As usual, Clark did not mince words. "This is an appalling amendment," she told an audience that included citizens, legislators, the president of the National Association of Women Lawyers, and prominent ERA opponent Phyllis Schlafly. "It reflects the thinking of fifty years ago. They are fighting a battle that has already been won." Clark, who had been fighting the battles from the beginning, died in a Richmond retirement community on June 4, 1983, and was buried in Emmanuel Episcopal Church Cemetery, in Henrico County.
Time Line
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September 27, 1882 - Adèle Clark is born in Montgomery, Alabama.
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ca. 1894 - The family of Adèle Clark settles in Richmond.
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1901 - Adèle Clark graduates from Virginia Randolph Ellet's school (later Saint Catherine's School) in Richmond.
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1906 - Adèle Clark receives a scholarship to the Chase School of Art (later the New York School of Art and eventually the Parsons School of Design).
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November 27, 1909 - A group of women, including Kate Waller Barrett, Kate Langley Bosher, Adèle Clark, Ellen Glasgow, Nora Houston, Mary Johnston, and Lila Meade Valentine, found the Equal Suffrage League of Virginia.
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1912 - The General Assembly defeats a bill that would give women the right to vote.
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February 8, 1912 - The Richmond Virginian publishes "If Women Were to Vote," a pro-suffrage argument by Adèle Clark.
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February 25, 1912 - The Richmond Times-Dispatch publishes "Why Women Should Not Vote" by Molly Elliot Seawell.
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March 11, 1912 - The Richmond Times-Dispatch publishes "The Suffragist Movement: A Reply to Miss Molly Elliot Seawell" by Adèle Clark. The piece is later published as an educational booklet.
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1914 - The General Assembly defeats a bill that would give women the right to vote.
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1916 - The General Assembly defeats a bill that would give women the right to vote.
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ca. 1916 - Adèle Clark and Nora Houston establish in Richmond the Atelier, an art studio that will become a training ground for a generation of Virginia artists.
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1919 - Adèle Clark and Nora Houston found the Virginia League of Fine Arts and Handicrafts, which will later merge with the Atelier and become part of the Richmond Academy of Arts.
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June 1919 - The Equal Suffrage League of Virginia boasts 30,000 members.
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June 4, 1919 - The U.S. Congress passes the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The amendment guarantees women the right to vote.
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1920 - Adèle Clark becomes the first chair of the newly organized Virginia League of Women Voters.
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February 12, 1920 - The General Assembly votes not to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees women the right to vote.
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August 18, 1920 - Tennessee becomes the thirty-sixth state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, completing the ratification process.
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1921 - Adèle Clark becomes president of the League of Women Voters and holds this position for nineteen years (from 1921 until 1925 and again from 1929 until 1944).
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1922 - The governor appoints Adèle Clark to the Commission on Simplification and Economy of State and Local Government.
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1923 - Adèle Clark and Naomi Silverman Cohn found the Virginia Women's Council of Legislative Chairmen of State Organizations to monitor bills of special interest to women.
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1924 - Adèle Clark is elected to the board of the National League of Women Voters.
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1925–1928 - Adèle Clark serves as second vice president of the National League of Women Voters.
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March–September 1926 - Adèle Clark serves as acting social director of women at the College of William and Mary.
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1927 - Adèle Clark chairs the Lila Meade Valentine Memorial Association, which seeks to place a tablet or bust honoring the Richmond suffragist in the State Capitol.
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June 26–28, 1928 - Adèle Clark attends the Democratic National Convention in Houston, Texas, addressing the platform committee.
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1933 - Adèle Clark becomes a field supervisor for the National Reemployment Service.
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1936–1942 - Adèle Clark serves as Virginia Arts Project director of the Works Projects Administration, helping to provide employment opportunities for artists in the state.
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1938 - Adèle Clark chairs the Virginia committee for the exhibition of southern art at the 1939–1940 World's Fair in New York.
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1941 - Adèle Clark serves on the Virginia executive committee for National Art Week.
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1941–1964 - Adèle Clark serves as a member of the Virginia Art Commission.
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1942 - Adèle Clark converts to Catholicism.
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February 21, 1952 - The General Assembly ratifies the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, thirty-two years after it became law.
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December 1967 - Adèle Clark receives a brotherhood citation from the Richmond chapter of the National Conference of Christians and Jews.
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February 2, 1973 - Appalled by the idea of the Equal Rights Amendment, Adèle Clark appears in a front page photograph of the Richmond Times-Dispatch with the skeptical headline, "Beginning of an ERA?"
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June 4, 1983 - Adèle Clark dies in a Richmond retirement community. She is buried in Emmanuel Episcopal Church Cemetery, in Henrico County.
References
Further Reading
Cite This Entry
- APA Citation:
McDaid, J. D., & the Dictionary of Virginia Biography. Adèle Clark (1882–1983). (2020, April 15). In Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved from http://www.EncyclopediaVirginia.org/Clark_Adèle_1882-1983.
- MLA Citation:
McDaid, Jennifer Davis and the Dictionary of Virginia Biography. "Adèle Clark (1882–1983)." Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Humanities, 15 Apr. 2020. Web. READ_DATE.
First published: October 8, 2008 | Last modified: April 15, 2020
Contributed by Jennifer Davis McDaid and the Dictionary of Virginia Biography. Jennifer Davis McDaid is a historical archivist at the Norfolk Southern Corporation.