This column by Daniel G. Clark about Alexander Clark (1826-1891) first appeared in the Muscatine Journal.

First we examine the white marble monument whenever I accompany visitors to Alexander Clark’s grave at Greenwood Cemetery. Then I tell about other family members buried there. Then I point to the adjacent plot where a large central stone is inscribed “Lee” on one side and “Mahin” on the other.

As friendly as they were in life, I say. I tell, as I do in these columns, about pioneer editor John Mahin (1833-1919) who led this newspaper for half a century. His close association with Clark appears to continue through graveyard neighborliness.

I can’t say how the eternal-rest deal came to pass, but I do say it’s not hard to guess.

Same with the Lees, I say.

This column by Daniel G. Clark about Alexander Clark (1826-1891) first appeared in the Muscatine Journal.

A headline that could have been repeated many times over the years: “Alexander Clark project in jeopardy.”

“[E]fforts to restore his 100-year-old house on West Third Street are jeopardized by a shortage of interest and funds.”

That sentence, too, could have been recycled across the 44 years since it appeared in the Iowa City Press-Citizen on November 25, 1978.

This column by Daniel G. Clark about Alexander Clark (1826-1891) first appeared in the Muscatine Journal.

September 1974. Crisis averted?

At a meeting of stakeholders, members of the women’s group studying historic homes of Muscatine assured city officials they would not block demolition of a house built by historic resident Alexander Clark. Their expressions of concern had raised fears of an impending nomination to the National Register of Historic Places.

Muscatine Journal, September 26: “Such a nomination would, in effect, dash the city’s hopes for the 100-unit federally funded complex for low-income elderly, according to Charles Coates, city administrator.”

But study group member Bette Veerhusen said others might take up the cause.

This column by Daniel G. Clark about Alexander Clark (1826-1891) first appeared in the Muscatine Journal.

September 1974. One building or the other might have been doomed.

The fate of the historic Alexander Clark House was at stake. So was the long-planned and much needed apartment high-rise that now bears the name of the Muscatine resident one historian calls “the most important African American leader who almost no one has heard of.”

This column by Daniel G. Clark about Alexander Clark (1826-1891) first appeared in the Muscatine Journal.

“February 25 is Alexander Clark Day in Muscatine.”

That was the first sentence of Column 1, on February 9, 2022. This is Column 48.

“How convenient that our city holiday comes during Black History Month!”

That was me extolling the unanimous City Council vote of 2018 declaring our municipal intention to celebrate a famous resident’s 1826 birthday in perpetuity—every year going forward.

I concluded Column 1: “There is so much more to be told about Muscatine’s part in Black History. One month is never enough.”

This column by Daniel G. Clark about Alexander Clark (1826-1891) first appeared in the Muscatine Journal.

Lines by Lin-Manuel Miranda run through my head while I’m researching Iowans from the past.

“And when you’re gone, who remembers your name? | Who keeps your flame? | Who tells your story?”

More than a fine song in Hamilton: The American Musical, it’s a reminder of where history comes from.

What facts are important to remember—from whose point of view? Who is important to remember—and why? Who keeps their flames alive?