Clark v. Board of School Directors

Clark v. Board of School Directors, 24 Iowa 266 (1868), was an Iowa Supreme Court case in which the Court held that school districts may not segregate students on the basis of race. In 1867, Susan Clark, a 13-year-old African American, sued the local school board of Muscatine, Iowa, because she was refused admittance into Grammar School No. 2 under the notion that it was a white school only. Clark, the daughter of local businessman Alexander Clark, said in her lawsuit that the segregation was a violation of Iowa law and the Iowa State Constitution. Iowa trial court and state district court sided with Clark. On appeal, the Iowa Supreme Court upheld the district court's decision.