Dr. John Henrik Clarke: His Life, His Words, His Works

Anna Swanston, Dr. John Henrik Clarke: His Life, His Words, His Works. Atlanta: I AM Unlimited Publishing, 2003.

In her timely book, Dr. John Henrik Clarke: His Life, His Words, His Works, Anna Swanston, Clarke's long-time secretary, fully and convincingly chronicles the miraculous rise from utter obscurity to international notoriety of the late and influential African American historian, John Henrik Clarke. Generously using Clarke's own words, Swanston provides interesting and much-needed insight into how Clarke, the son of a poverty-stricken Alabama sharecropper and a man who never received more than a seventh-grade formal education, greatly devoted himself to self-education and serious study. She describes how Clarke hoboed across the United States before settling in his beloved Harlem, New York for the remaining sixty or more years of his life.

It was while living and doing low-paying odd jobs in Harlem that Clarke received what the sixth of the eleven chapters of the book calls "the essence of an education". That "essence" came at the hands of some of the great Black minds, well-known and little-know. They included university-trained historians, like Willis N. Huggins, a Ph.D. and author of numerous works on African history; and William Leo Hansberry, a major influence in the push for historical accuracy regarding the history of Africa and her people. Others who Clarke numbered among his "mentors", included the noted journalist, historian, and prolific writer Joel A. Rogers; and the historian and author John G. Jackson, who Clarke called both "a mentor" and "a multi-genius".

Most central in Clarke's development as an intellect, Swanston writes, stood the Afro-Puerto Rican bibliophile and historian, Arthur Alfonso Schomburg, whose huge collection of books, pamphlets, and art work regarding African (Black) people worldwide laid the foundation for the world-famous Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, New York. Swanston quotes Clark in describing Schomburg's influence; "I thank Arthur A. Schomburg; for he is really responsible...