Rebecca Parker Clarke
Rebecca Parker Clarke | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1790 |
| Died | 1865 |
| Occupation(s) | Religious leader and abolitionist |
| Children | James Freeman Clarke |
Rebecca Parker Clarke (née Hull) (1790-1865) was an American abolitionist and faith leader in Boston.[1]
She co-founded the Home for Aged Colored Women on Beacon Hill with her son, James Freeman Clarke, and Rev. Leonard A. Grimes of the Twelfth Baptist Church in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1860.[2][3]
The home was established to provide aid and housing for poor African-American women.[4] The Home for Aged Women, established a decade before, would not admit women of color. This prompted the group of abolitionists to establish a home for women of color.[5]
Parker Clarke was married to Samuel Parker Clarke.[6] She also kept a boarding house in Beacon Hill in the 1930s where she housed figures like Horace Mann and Jared Sparks among others.[7]
In 2023, she was recognized as one of "Boston’s most admired, beloved, and successful Black Women leaders" by the Black Women Lead project.[8][9][10]
References
- ^ "History *". Retrieved 2025-08-11.
- ^ "Site of the Home for Aged Colored Women (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
- ^ "Home for Aged Colored Women Records, 1843-1949". www.masshist.org. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
- ^ "A Mass Grave, and a Poignant Window into Boston's Past | DUSP". dusp.mit.edu. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
- ^ nstewart (2023-02-17). "People of Color as Children and Elders in 18th and 19th Century Boston". The Old North Church & Historic Site. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
- ^ "Perry-Clarke Collection, 1588-1924". www.masshist.org. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
- ^ Swift, Lindsay (1903). Literary Landmarks of Boston: A Visitor's Guide to Points of Literary Interest in and about Boston. Houghton, Mifflin.
- ^ "Black Women Lead". Greater Grove Hall Main Streets. Archived from the original on 2024-12-04. Retrieved 2024-10-24.
- ^ Sullivan, Mike (2023-10-04). "Portraits along Blue Hill Avenue honor Boston's Black women leaders". CBS Boston. Retrieved 2024-10-24.
- ^ Gaskin, Ed (10 April 2025). Black Women Lead: Boston's Most Admired, Beloved, and Iconic Leaders, 1700 - Present. Independently published. ISBN 979-8317465209.