House Resolution 20 - Introduced PAG LIN H.R. ________ S.R. ________ 1 1 HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 1 2 BY REICHERT, BERRY, THEDE, H. MILLER, 1 3 FORD, BURT, ABDUL=SAMAD, and KAUFMANN 1 4 A Resolution to honor the life and work of Alexander G. 1 5 Clark. 1 6 WHEREAS, as a young man, Alexander G. Clark settled 1 7 in Bloomington, Iowa, now Muscatine, and made it his 1 8 home for a half century; and 1 9 WHEREAS, in his lifetime, Mr. Clark was a barber, 1 10 an investor, an entrepreneur, an educator, a soldier, 1 11 a politician, an attorney, a newspaper publisher, a 1 12 statesman, and the United States ambassador to 1 13 Liberia; and 1 14 WHEREAS, Mr. Clark was the second African=American 1 15 to graduate from the University of Iowa Law School == 1 16 the first being his own son; and 1 17 WHEREAS, Mr. Clark was a founder of the African 1 18 Methodist Episcopal Church of Muscatine and a founder 1 19 of Prince Hall Masonry throughout the Midwest; and 1 20 WHEREAS, Mr. Clark was a pioneer in humanitarian 1 21 and social justice issues in Muscatine, Iowa; and 1 22 WHEREAS, Mr. Clark led the legal fight to 1 23 desegregate Iowa's schools in 1867=1868; and 1 24 WHEREAS, Mr. Clark and his associates, white and 1 25 black, advanced the interests of all people in 1 26 establishing legal recognition for equal rights in the 1 27 State of Iowa; and 1 28 WHEREAS, Mr. Clark traveled the country speaking 1 29 for a diverse and egalitarian future for the United 1 30 States of America; and 2 1 WHEREAS, Mr. Clark accepted an appointment and 2 2 served his country as Minister and Consul=General to 2 3 the Black Free State of Liberia; and 2 4 WHEREAS, Mr. Clark became known as the "Colored 2 5 Orator of the West," and the oration at his funeral 2 6 declared him "one of the underground railroad 2 7 engineers and conductors, whose field was the South, 2 8 whose depot was the North, and whose freight was human 2 9 souls"; and 2 10 WHEREAS, Mr. Clark was buried in 1891 at Greenwood 2 11 Cemetery in Muscatine; and 2 12 WHEREAS, February 25, 2009, is the 183rd 2 13 anniversary of the birth of this equal rights pioneer; 2 14 NOW THEREFORE, 2 15 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 2 16 That the House of Representatives recognizes the week 2 17 of February 22 to February 28, 2009, as Alexander G. 2 18 Clark Week to honor his work for justice and fairness 2 19 and his memory as a truly great Iowan. 2 20 LSB 2127HH 83 2 21 jr/rj/14.1