Clarence Mitchell Jr.
Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. | |
---|---|
Lyndon Johnson in 1964 | |
Born | Clarence Maurice Mitchell Jr. March 8, 1911 |
Died | March 18, 1984 | (aged 73)
Nationality | American |
Other names | The 101st senator |
Alma mater | Lincoln University University of Minnesota |
Occupation | Civil rights activist |
Spouse | Juanita Jackson |
Children | 4, including Clarence III |
Relatives | Parren Mitchell (brother) Clarence Mitchell IV (grandson) Keiffer Mitchell Jr. (grandson) |
Clarence Maurice Mitchell Jr. (March 8, 1911 – March 18, 1984) was an American
He also served as a regional director for the organization.Mitchell, nicknamed "
In 1969, he was awarded the
After his retirement, Mitchell wrote a Sunday editorial column for The Baltimore Sun every Sunday until his death in 1984. The Sun called it "an extraordinary commentary on the civil rights movement." On March 23, 1984, the Sharp Street Memorial United Methodist Church overflowed with 2,500 mourners who gathered from around the country to pay their respects. Included among them was Harry Hughes (Governor of Maryland), William Donald Schaefer (Mayor of Baltimore and later Governor), Benjamin Hooks, director of the NAACP; and Dorothy Height, president of the National Council of Negro Women.
The main city courthouse[4] in Baltimore City was renamed as the Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. Courthouse in 1985 in his honor. Other facilities were also named for him.
Early life and education
Mitchell was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Clarence M. Mitchell, a waiter and Elsie (Davis) Mitchell, a homemaker. Mitchell's brother, Parren Mitchell, became a U.S. Congressman representing Maryland's 7th congressional district.
Clarence Mitchell was raised in a large household consisting of 11 family members (him, along with his parents, his maternal grandparents, and six siblings.) One sibling died prior to Clarence's birth, and two died when he was young. According to the U.S. Census records in 1910;[5] His maternal grandparents lived with the family until their deaths in 1912 and 1913. The family moved frequently when Mitchell was young, living in rented homes in the same area of Baltimore City. In 1929 his parents purchased their own home at 712 Carrollton Avenue in Baltimore's Harlem Park neighborhood. Mitchell saw their hardships; his mother took in meal boarders to supplement his father's income from working at the historic Rennert Hotel on the northeastern corner of West Saratoga and North Liberty Streets.
Mitchell's mother and the children attended church at St. Katherine's Episcopal Church, where Mitchell and his brother Parren served in the services on Sunday mornings. The family celebrated Christmas, his mother decorating the home. His parents kept things in good condition, with an orderly yard. Mitchell was taught by his parents not to "take anything from anyone" when it came to racial issues; the older children taught the younger children, too. Clarence spent time at the YMCA (Colored – Young Men's Christian Association) learning how to box, and earned the nickname "the Shamrock Kid."
Mitchell excelled in his early childhood education and worked hard to learn lessons taught to him by his illiterate mother. When Mitchell was in elementary school, one of his teachers was the mother of Thurgood Marshall, future attorney and United States Supreme Court Justice. Mitchell worked many odd jobs throughout his childhood; from hauling ice and coal in a wagon for money, which he subsequently gave to his parents to support the household; to working with Thurgood Marshall and his father as a busboy at the Gibson Island Club.[6][page needed]
Education
Mitchell attended
Mitchell also attended the University of Minnesota, after which he became the executive secretary for the National Urban League in St. Paul in 1937. While in Minnesota, he led a successful campaign to end employment discrimination practices against African Americans who worked for the city.[7]
Career
As a young man, Mitchell worked for the
In the 1940s, Mitchell began working as staff to the
Based on that experience, after the end of the war Mitchell began working for the NAACP in 1946, as NAACP Labor Secretary and Director of the NAACP Washington Bureau, serving from 1946 to 1950. In 1951 he was promoted to Director of the NAACP Washington Bureau, serving 1951–1954.[12]
In 1952
1959 was a year of serious losses for Mitchell: his father died of cancer in June and his brother Lorenzo in a car accident. Although confined to bed at the time of Lorenzo's death, his mother Elsie Davis Mitchell had her other sons carry her into the church for his funeral service, so that she did not have to use a wheelchair. Mitchell's mother died in November 1959; his poem in her honor, "A Star is a Small Reward," was published in the Afro-American.
Mitchell continued to serve as an NAACP lobbyist to Congress through the 1960s, as the civil rights movement reached new peaks in demonstrations and increasing national awareness through campaigns in the South. Mitchell helped secure passage of the era's critical civil rights legislation: the
President
Mitchell was a member on the Board of Regents at the University of Maryland, College Park from 1982 to 1984. His papers and those of the NAACP Washington Bureau 1942–1978, are held at the State University of New York (SUNY) College at Old Westbury, New York.[11]
Legacy and honors
- In 1969 Mitchell was awarded the Spingarn Medal of the NAACP.
- President Jimmy Carter presented Mitchell with the Presidential Medal of Freedom on June 9, 1980. This is the highest civilian honor in the United States.
- In 1985 the Baltimore City Circuit Courthouse and the States' Attorney's Office for Baltimore City (constructed 1896–1900, one of the city's monuments) was named in his honor. An exhibit on Mitchell is installed in the west side lobby facing the St. Paul Streetentrance.
- The Mitchell Building, located on the College Park campus (the Office of Undergraduate Admissions), was named in his honor.
- The Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. Building, a 35,000-square-foot (3,300 m2) facility that houses the engineering program at Morgan State University in Baltimore, was named for him.
- Denton L. Watson wrote a biography of Mitchell: Lion in the Lobby : Clarence Mitchell, Jr.'s Struggle for the Passage of Civil Rights Laws (2002).[17]
- Mitchell is included among noted citizens in the book Marylanders of the Century, written by Joseph R. L. Sterne, former editor of The Baltimore Sun, who covered the national civil rights struggle from Washington during the 1960s.[18]
- Denton L. Watson is working on a nine volume historical documentary edition of The Papers of Clarence Mitchell Jr. Five printed volumes have been published by the Ohio Press so far and he will also include a digital edition.[19]
References
- ^ "FindArticles.com - CBSi". www.findarticles.com. Archived from the original on 2005-04-18. Retrieved 2019-04-10.
- ^ "Clarence Mitchell, Jr., rights leader, dies at 73". The Baltimore Sun. Baltimore, Maryland. 1984-03-19. p. A1. Retrieved 2021-03-19.
- ^ a b "Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. and family" Archived 2017-03-09 at the Wayback Machine, Library of Congress
- ^ Courthouse Plan Mapped, Renovation Program Recommended To Mayor, Baltimore (Morning) Sun,, November 6, 1946
- ^ 1910 Census, United States Bureau of the Census
- ^ Denton L. Watson, Lion in the Lobby:Clarence Mitchell Jr.'s Struggle for the Passage of Civil Rights Laws, New York: Morrow Publishers, 1990
- ^ Jones, Melissa (6 March 2011). "Clarence Mitchell Jr: Dedicated to Making a Better World". Baltimore Afro-American. Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
- ^ "Matt Williams , MSA SC 3520-13749". msa.maryland.gov. Archived from the original on 2022-11-29. Retrieved 2019-04-10.
- ^ Marion Elizabeth Rodgers, "H.L. Mencken: Courage in a Time of Lynching" Archived 2015-04-07 at the Wayback Machine, Nieman Reports
- ^ "Mitchell Family" Vertical Files: Maryland Room Collection, Enoch Pratt Free Library Baltimore, MD.
- ^ a b c Denton Watson, "About Us," The Papers of Clarence Mitchell Jr. and of the NAACP Washington Bureau 1942–1978 Archived 2015-08-13 at the Wayback Machine, SUNY College at Old Westbury
- ^ The Papers of Clarence Mitchell Jr., Volume III: NAACP Labor Secretary and Director of the NAACP Washington Bureau, 1946–1950; Volume IV: Director of the NAACP Washington Bureau, 1951–1954, edited by Denton L. Watson (Ohio University Press; 2010)
- ^ Lachicotte (1966), p. 130.
- ^ Bass & Thompson (2005), p. 170.
- ^ Cohodas (1993), p. 294.
- ^ Lachicotte (1966), pp. 133–135.
- ISBN 0-7618-2211-9. Archivedfrom the original on 2011-07-17. Retrieved 2011-03-06.
- ^ "Clarence Mitchell, Jr., Papers". SUNY College at Old Westbury. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
- ^ "About Us | The Papers of Clarence Mitchell Jr". clarencemitchellpapers.com. Archived from the original on 2018-11-08. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
Primary sources
- The Papers of Clarence Mitchell Jr., Volume III: NAACP Labor Secretary and Director of the NAACP Washington Bureau, 1946 – 1950; Volume IV: Director of the NAACP Washington Bureau, 1951 – 1954, edited by Denton L. Watson (Ohio University Press; 2010)
External links
Media related to Clarence Mitchell Jr. at Wikimedia Commons
- Clarence Mitchell Jr. Collection, University of Maryland School of Law – Thurgood Marshall Law Library
- The Papers of Clarence Mitchell Jr.
- Interview with Denton Watson on his Lion in the Lobby: Clarence Mitchell Jr.'s Struggle for the Passage of Civil Rights Laws, Booknotes, 8 July 1990
- Juanita Jackson and Clarence Mitchell Jr. House – Explore Baltimore Heritage