Contributed commentary by Yvonne Kendall as part of the essay series “The Road to 250: Community Spirit in Action,” celebrating the history of unity in Clarksville ahead of America’s 250th anniversary.

One main vision of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is “to ensure the political, educational, social and economic equality of all citizens.” For generations, the Clarksville chapter has been active in leading the way toward greater unity through equality in the community.

They stood with Olympic gold-medalist and Clarksville native Wilma Rudolph in 1963, when she was refused service at a local restaurant. At the same time, they were working with local officials to peacefully desegregate schools in Clarksville-Montgomery County. A year later in 1964, they stood with World War II veteran Euless R. Pettus, one of the first two Black officers to join the Clarksville Police Department. The officers served without major incident.

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Though part of Clarksville’s peaceful transition was due to a degree of acceptance in the broader community, part may have been due to the fact that, like Martin Luther King Jr., many of the NAACP leaders had been preachers or teachers. Pastor Jerry Jerkins, local NAACP president for 20 years starting in 1975, worked with Tennessee’s statewide Title IV Commission to ensure equity in education. The Rev. Wilbur Nathan Daniel, the first Black male to graduate from Austin Peay State University, had been president of the local chapter in Chicago. In 1992, Austin Peay State University’s African American Cultural Center was named after this educator.

Politically, Clarksville’s NAACP has supported the election of more candidates, increasing representation of the African American community. As recently as 2021, they monitored fairness in reapportionment voting maps.

The NAACP still works for political equality by sponsoring events such as Drive to the Polls, a 2016 initiative to get rides for those who want to vote. Economically, the local branch has been vocal concerning issues of fair housing and economic opportunity.

One part of the NAACP’s success has been the inclusion of women in important roles. While the rest of the country was debating the role of women in American society, the NAACP was striding forward. Mary Boyd-Robinson, a trained nurse midwife, was known to have delivered over 300 babies. This Clarksville native, born Dec. 6, 1896, later served as a Clarksville NAACP chapter president.

The local chapter has also supported honors for women. In 2015, NAACP lifetime member Lettie Parker Kendall, longtime teacher and the longest-serving county commissioner in state history, received the statewide Women in NAACP (WIN) Bridge of Honor Award for her continued service to the Clarksville community. This award, nationally launched in 1988, was created to celebrate the often-underrecognized role of community volunteers and those who make valued contributions in their professional lives.

There is still work to be done, but by making the voices of the historically underrepresented heard, the Clarksville Branch of the NAACP has actively exercised the power of the American Constitution and the rights it preserves. To quote “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the Black national anthem, the local NAACP continues to “sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us; sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us.”

Yvonne Kendall

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