Former state Rep. Alyce Clarke, the first Black woman to serve in the Mississippi Legislature, sat patiently in her motorized wheelchair Tuesday as her many feats and accomplishments were listed inside the Capitol.

But when it came time to unveil her portrait, the 84-year-old Clarke stood. Clarke had said it was important to have her portrait hanging in the Capitol so that “little boys and little girls who come to the Capitol could see someone who looks like them.” Perhaps Clarke wanted to make sure that those little boys and girls saw her standing next to her portrait.

When Clarke was elected to the Mississippi House in a 1985 special election, there were three women serving in the Legislature. She is the first woman to have her portrait hung in the Capitol. A bust of former Lt. Gov. Evelyn Gandy is located prominently in a Senate committee room.

Clarke’s portrait was painted by Jackson artist Ryan Mack. The portrait was based on a photograph from 1985 when she was first elected to the Mississippi House.

Mack said on Tuesday that Clarke’s years-long work to establish drug courts that provided treatment opportunities for people convicted of crimes made the invitation to paint the portrait an even bigger honor.

“It is better to treat people than to incarcerate,” Clarke said in the past. “And that is what the drug court does.”

The portrait was hung in the House Education Committee room. She was a member of the Education Committee for most of her tenure, including serving as vice chair, and worked for many years to boost public education across the state.

Clarke’s tenure in the Legislature ended when she chose not to run for reelection in 2019. Rep. Zakiya Summers, D-Jackson, said Clarke’s colleagues inquired of having her portrait placed in the Capitol. She said former House Speaker Philip Gunn supported the effort as did then-Speaker Pro Tem Jason White, who is now serving as speaker.

During Tuesday’s ceremony, current House Pro Tem Manly Barton, R-Moss Point, praised Clarke’s persistence in getting legislation passed. For years she filed bills to create a state lottery. When it was finally passed in 2018, Clarke’s colleagues chose to name the lottery in her honor.

Rep. Robert Johnson, D-Natchez, the House minority leader, said Clarke “effused power but did so with grace and persistence.”

Clarke, a nutritionist and educator, said during a 2019 interview on Mississippi Today’s “The Other Side” podcast that she was first encouraged by peers to run for Jackson City Council, but her supporters came to her at some point later and said, “We are no longer running for city council. We are running for the House.”

But she added, “The real person who made the decision was a lady in the Mississippi Delta. I called that person and she said, ‘Haven’t I always told you that you don’t know what you can do unless you try and you haven’t tried that.’ I said, ‘Thank you, Mama.’” At that point, she told her supporters she would run.

Clarke represented District 69 — one of the most densely populated districts in Mississippi. But she grew up in rural Humphreys County.

“I picked cotton, and I took pride,” she said, “I guess in making sure no male in the field could beat me picking cotton.”

Clarke went to Alcorn State on a scholarship and later ended up in Jackson, where for decades she has been an integral part of the community.

Her portrait will forever hang in the Mississippi Capitol.

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