Benjamin Franklin Clark was born March 6, 1915, one out of ten children. Life was not easy for Clark and getting an education was even more difficult for him. His mother died when he was just 10-years-old and five years later his father died. But even with these obstacles it was important for him to make his life better. “I went to school because I wanted to. I walked three or four miles to a one-room schoolhouse and never played hooky, not even one day. I had help and encouragement from my family and others, but my true motivation was a love for education” said Clark.

His early education was at an elementary and junior high school in the community of Paradise, Texas. He graduated from the 11th grade in 1936 from San Augustine High School. After completing High School he attended Butler Junior College in Tyler, Texas from 1936 to 1938. In September of 1938 he began his teaching career in the San Augustine County Public Schools. He received his Bachelor of Arts Degree from Texas College of Tyler, Texas in August 1942. He was inducted into the United States Army in July 1942 and there he received a lot of awards for his contributions in the army.

Some of these awards that he received were the Good Conduct Medal of Honor for fidelity and efficiency in the U.S. Army in 1944, a Bronze Star for being in the Combat Zone at Iwo Jima and a second Bronze Star for being in the Pacific Theater of Operation in 1945. Before he was honorably discharged from the United States Army on January 15, 1946 with the rank of Sergeant, he received the Asiatic Pacific Theater of Operation Ribbons. In September 1946, he returned to the teaching profession in Groveton, Texas where he was assistant principal and basketball coach.

In June 1947, he entered Prairie View A&M University and received a Masters of Science Degree in Education in 1949 and on December 26, 1948 he married Berniece I. Elmore of Coldspring, Texas. To this union three children were born and educated; Franklin Carver Clark - BBA Degree from Grambling State University, Lyndia Regina Clark - BSN Degree from Texas Women’s University, and Bernard Edwin Clark – BBA Degree in Accounting from Sam Houston State University.
Clark also received three years of education beyond his T.S.U. masters at Sam Houston State University in Houston, Texas and at Huntsville, Texas respectively. In September of 1951, he started teaching at the Spring School for Black Students which was renamed W.M. Southwell It is now the Southwell Community Park.

The school had a gym, two classrooms and Clark’s office on one side. There he was a man of many trades at Southwell. He was the principal, math teacher, bus driver, counselor, and textbook custodian at the school. Whatever the school needed, he did it. “That sounds like a lot, but back then we all had to handle a number of jobs to make the system work,” Clark said.
Southwell covered grades 1-10 for boys and girls. The school had five teachers to handle about 140 students. These students only received secondhand books, had no library or any athletic equipment. Clark and his four member staff were discouraged many times but they were dedicated to providing the best education possible to Black students. “Opportunities were not equal by any stretch of the imagination, but the difference was, we were fully committed to educating Black boys and girls. We gave them our best overall. When we integrated into the White schools, our kids went into the system equal to or above academically than the other kids” stated Clark.
In 1961, there was talk about integrating the schools and in the summer, the superintendent called Clark to talk about how they were going to put the Black kids in the same school with the White kids. At first they integrated the high school students and then little by little the entire district was integrated. In 1966, the schools were completely integrated and with that Clark was allowed to take his teachers to the Spring District to teach. His whole staff stayed there until they retired.

Clark often reflects on today’s teaching profession and he has concluded that the lack of discipline among students deters those thinking about entering the teaching profession.
“Teachers should be able to whip or punish our own students, but that’s a thing of the past. We didn’t have any discipline problems. When it got too difficult for the teachers, they would send them to me. I would solve the problem and it was over. Kids today have too much freedom. Teachers and administrators are afraid to punish them (the students) for rule violations, never knowing when they will be sued by a parent or even attacked by a student. The facilities are much better, but I think things ran more smoothly when we old-timers practiced corporal punishment. With a paddle, yes, but also with love” stated Clark.

“The young people today are becoming mentally crippled because of a dependence on machines to do their thinking and calculating for them. They aren’t learning the three R’s- reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmatic,” said Clark. Clark’s advice to parents is that you need to cooperate and support teachers and administrators. “I told my kids the first year of integration, if you get into any trouble, the teacher is going to be right and I will deal with you. That attitude must prevail among parents today, or the problems we are now experiencing will only increase,” he said.

Clark retired from the Spring Independent School District in 1979 as “Teacher of the Year” with a total of 41 years in public Education. In 1990, the Spring Independent School District School Board voted to name the district’s 13th elementary school, B.F. Clark Elementary School, in his honor. On October 20, 1991 B.F. Clark Elementary located at 12625 River Laurel was dedicated in his honor.

He received the Consolidated Association of Black School Educators Award on February 19, 1994 and has achieved many more accomplishments. Clark is an active member of True Vine Baptist Church in Spring, Texas. He is a life member of Prairie View A&M Alumni Association, Although retired, he still finds time to help out with educating young people.