A Sad Note...
Sorors, another one of our refined ladies has passed...
Soror Irma Frazier Clarke, a diamond member, died last week here in Chicago. Her services are this weekend. Our chapter had helped Soror Clarke celebrate her 100th birthday in June with a big party, complete with media coverage from the Chicago Tribune:
LONGTIME DUSABLE HIGH LIBRARIAN TURNS THE PAGE ON 100 YEARS OF LIFE
By Raoul V. Mowatt, Tribune Staff Writer.
Published: Monday, June 19, 2000
Section: Metro Chicago
Page: 3
The elegance of a diva. The heart of a social worker. The discipline of a drill instructor.
In her youth, Irma Frazier Clarke was all that and more. As a leader in her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, and other civic groups, she has received numerous awards for her contributions. As the head librarian at DuSable High School, she inspired generations of students to read up on black history.
Now, Clarke has just reached a more personal milestone: She turned 100 on Friday.
And with that occasion, she received birthday wishes from the "Today" show's Willard Scott, President Clinton, Gov. George Ryan and Mayor Richard Daley. Closer to home, former students, relatives and sorority sisters gathered at her Hyde Park retirement home to celebrate Clarke's century.
Clarke credited her longevity to "my thoughtfulness to everybody" and offered a few pieces of advice, similar to what she has been telling people all these years.
"Study hard," she said. "That's the thing to do."
And young people, she said, "should make the most of their youth."
Because her parents stressed the importance of education, she attended the University of Kansas.
"I did not experience very much racism," Clarke once told a campus publication. "There wasn't really much. It didn't carry over. Many of the young blacks that lived in Lawrence worked a lot and concentrated on school."
In 1919, she joined Alpha Kappa Alpha. "The girls there were high-class, friendly people," Clarke said in a recent interview. She became the head librarian at DuSable in 1935, its inaugural year, and retired in 1968. DuSable is named for the black explorer who in the 1770s became Chicago's first non-native settler.
Former DuSable students and colleagues say Clarke was the very model of her profession: stern yet gentle, soft-spoken but always encouraging. She would give teens reading suggestions, pep talks and generous praise.
"If you had a problem doing a research project or finding a book, she was right there to help you," said Wanda Bridgeforth, a member of the first class at DuSable.
"With Mrs. Clarke, you can't forget that infectious smile," Dempsey Travis, a local historian and a DuSable graduate, said.
But former students also said that if they were acting up, they'd soon find themselves on the receiving end of a stop-your-foolishness glare that was as withering as it was effective. Even Clarke's niece was not exempt.
"I got kicked out many times because I was talking and laughing," Evelyn Clarke said.
Irma Clarke brought in slides from her extensive travels, giving students a window to parts of the world they'd scarcely imagined.
She also started a section of the library devoted to African-American history, philosophy and literature that became one of the most extensive of its kind at the high school level, former students said.
"Langston Hughes, W.E.B. DuBois, Booker T. Washington, Frederick Douglass," Timuel D. Black, another former DuSable student, said. "She gave us not only the books to read, but the personalities to guide us."
On her birthday last year, DuSable renamed its 25,000-book library for her.
Now Clarke spends her time relaxing with friends, assembling jigsaw puzzles and going on shopping excursions.
Soon after Clarke arrived at her birthday bash, guests surrounded her wheelchair, hugging her, kissing her, posing for pictures, talking about her. Then they handed the microphone to Clarke to see if she had anything she wanted to add.
"You all have heard enough," she said.
Just like a librarian to appreciate the value of silence.
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Please pray for her family, sorors and friends.
Here's Soror Clarke's obit from the Trib:
IRMA FRAZIER CLARKE, 100, LIBRARIAN
By Heather Vogell
Tribune Staff Writer
January 24, 2001
Irma Frazier Clarke, 100, DuSable High School's first head librarian, who motivated students, put up with no nonsense and started a section of the library devoted to African-American history, died on Saturday, Jan. 20, in Montgomery Place Retirement Community Healthcare Pavilion in Chicago's Hyde Park community.
Poised, impeccably dressed and quick-witted, Mrs. Clarke did not tolerate misbehavior.
"She was working behind her desk, but she could see the whole library," said her niece Evelyn Clarke, who graduated from DuSable. "If there was any disruption, she didn't hesitate to bring that to a stop."
Over the years, Mrs. Clarke built up a legion of admirers who included many former students whom she had encouraged and inspired.
Early on at DuSable, Mrs. Clarke started the Beta Club, which was for students with good grades who wanted to work in the library as assistants. Membership became prestigious.
"We all worked very hard to stay on that," said Wanda Bridgeforth, a member of the Class of 1939. "All the other students looked up to you."
Mrs. Clarke also led the library to begin collecting books that focused on African-American history, philosophy and literature. She retired from DuSable in 1968.
In 1999, DuSable renamed the 25,000-volume library after her.
Mrs. Clarke was born in Kansas City, Mo., in 1900. Her mother was an evangelist and missionary. In 1920, she graduated from the University of Kansas and began teaching.
She and her husband, Thomas, a lawyer whom she married in 1924, moved to Chicago in 1929, her nephew Ernest Jackson said.
She became head librarian at DuSable in 1935, its inaugural year.
There were no immediate survivors.
Visitation will be from 10 a.m. until the time of services at 11 a.m. Saturday in Cage Memorial Chapel, 7651 S. Jeffery Blvd.Chicago.
[This message has been edited by Discogoddess (edited January 24, 2001).]
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