History Talk: The Radical Life of Peter H. Clark

Celebrate Black History Month as we learn about a member of the Board of Directors for the Albany Enterprise Institute, a Black-owned school once located in Albany, Ohio. Peter H. Clark was born in Cincinnati in the 1820s and learned about socialism from German immigrants involved in his early education. He was a lecturer at Emancipation Day Celebrations and was known for working with people like Frederick Douglas. Throughout his political life, socialism influenced his activism, but he was also part of the Republican Party at its beginning. Clark joined the Democratic party at a time in post-Civil War America when Blacks saw Democrats as the party of slavery. His political choices at the end of his career were rejected by the Black community he fought for his entire life.

Presenter bio:

Lawrence R. Greene is the founder of Ugata: drum and dance, where he teaches West African drum classes and delivers Pan-African cultural programs. He's an Artsbridge catalog artist offering drum programs to local schools in the Mid-Ohio Valley and a natural and historical interpreter for Rising Appalachia. Lawrence is also a founding board member of the Friends of The Plains Mounds nonprofit and enjoys researching local history.