David A. Clarke

David Allen "Dave" Clarke (October 13, 1943 – March 28, 1997) was a civil rights worker, lawyer, and Democratic politician in Washington, D.C. Elected as one of the original members of the Council of the District of Columbia when D.C. gained home rule in 1974, Clarke served as its chairman from 1983 to 1991, and again from the death of John A. Wilson in 1993 until his own death in 1997.

The David A. Clarke School of Law was renamed for Clarke in 1998.

Clarke was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in its Shaw and Skyland neighborhoods, attending D.C. public schools Thompson Elementary, Jefferson High, and Western High School. He continued his education in D.C., obtaining a B.A. in religion from George Washington University in 1965 and a J.D. from the Howard University School of Law.

Before his service on Council, he was counsel and Director of the Washington Bureau of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and was legal assistant to the N.A.A.C.P Legal Defense Fund. He also served as a program evaluator for the U.S. Senate Committee on Nutrition. In 1974, David Clarke was elected as the Ward One Representative on the Council of the District of Columbia- first Council elected by District of Columbia voters. During his eight years as the representative of Ward One, he was chairperson of the Judiciary Committee, a member of the Council’s Housing and Finance committee, and chairperson of the Public Safety Committee of the Metropolitan Council of Governments, where he was a proponent of gun control. He and his wife, a city schoolteacher, had one son.

While on the council, he was known for an ability to transcend race, a legacy from his experience as an activist and important in a racially divided district. His aggressive style at times made consensus building difficult.

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