Altadena Historical Society and Ellen Garrison Clark

Ellen Garrison Clark (Photos courtesy of robbinshouse.org, Design: ColoradoBlvd.net Graphics Dept.)

Ellen Garrison Clark, a civil rights pioneer, is buried at Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena. Her story is one of the unique Altadena stories about unsung notables of our community.

By Jennifer Hall Lee

The Altadena Historical Society, led by Veronica Jones, placed a headstone in her unmarked grave, in 2021.

Last year, the Questers and the Altadena Historical Society placed a gravestone on the burial sites of her brother and sister, Harry Clark and Susan Garrison-Clark, which were also unmarked. Their grandfather, Cesar Robbins, was a formerly-enslaved free man who fought in the American Revolution.

But the story didn’t end there. This year, Veronica Jones will be traveling to Garrison Clark’s home and birthplace in Concord, Massachusetts, to commemorate the naming of a middle school in her name.

Veronica Jones said, “At the Altadena Historical Society, we are dedicated to uncovering the hidden histories of our community. Sometimes, these histories originate on the East Coast and make their way to our backyard here in Altadena, becoming a vital part of our local history.”

In honor of Ellen Garrison Clark, two John Muir High School Early College Magnet students are awarded scholarships in her name each year on Juneteenth.