First Black student to graduate from Central, Clara Daniels, dies at 85

Clara Daniels, the first Black student to receive a diploma from Cape Girardeau Central High School, died Oct. 13 in Topeka, Kansas.

Daniels, 85, passed away at her son’s home following a long battle with cancer.

Daniels was permitted to attend then all-white Central after the city’s all-Black Cobb School at 731 Merriwether St. was destroyed by fire March 13, 1953, and never rebuilt.

The school was named for a former slave, John S. Cobb of Tennessee, who became one of Cape Girardeau’s first Black educators.

The following year, on May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled segregation in public schools was unconstitutional in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case.

By the fall of 1954, integration went into effect for grades seven through 12

at Central.

Interviewed by the Southeast Missourian in 1996, Daniels said the move from Cobb, where she played basketball, to Central was difficult.

“I was sad and scared,” Daniels said.

“We were sad that (Cobb) burned and scared because we had never been to school with whites. I didn’t get to meet friends like you should,” she added.

“(Central) had more to offer,” Daniels said, noting she and many of the first Black students didn’t realize they were lacking in supplies and equipment until they got to Central.

Daniels, who is survived by two sons and four grandchildren, became a licensed hairdresser after high school.

Later, she obtained a certification as a nurse’s assistant and retired as a certified nursing assistant (CNA) at Saint Francis Medical Center.

A longtime member of Eastern Star, she was a hospital volunteer after retirement.

At the center of her life was the church: historic St. James AME on North Street in Cape Girardeau, where Daniels was a lifetime member.

“(Clara) used to crochet winter hats for the homeless,” said St. James pastor Renita Green, calling Daniels strong, determined, soft, gentle and humble.

“Clara took care of our communion elements (at St. James) and tended to the altar coverings,” the Rev. Green said, adding that thanks to Daniels’ stewardship “sacred things were honored.”

“Under Clara, the altar coverings were always ironed without wrinkles and the communion trays were shiny and well-maintained,” she continued.

Green noted Daniels regretted never having visited the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial in Washington, D.C., which opened in 2011.

She said Daniels, who sang in the St. James choir for decades, had a succinct comment about racial tensions in the United States evidenced since the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.

“She said it felt like we’re going backward sometimes,” said Green, who added a poignant comment about Daniels.

“(Clara) was fully alive in every minute she had,” opined Green.