Mary T. Clark

{{Short description|American academic and civil rights advocate}}

Mary Twibill Clark {{post-nominals|post-noms=RSCJ}} (October 23, 1913 – September 1, 2014) was an American Roman Catholic nun, academic, and civil rights advocate. She was best known as a scholar of the history of philosophy, and was associated especially with Saint Augustine.

Life

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Francis S. and Regina Holland (née Twibill) Clark, Mary Clark entered the Society of the Sacred Heart on June 5, 1939[https://rscj.org/system/files/bibliography.pdf Bibliography], rscj.org; accessed March 5, 2015.{{registration required}} after graduating Manhattanville College. Much of her life was subsequently spent at the college where she taught philosophy. A Chair of Christian Philosophy at the college, from which she retired in 2011, bears her name.{{cite web|url=http://search.mville.edu/?q=Mary+T.+Clark|title=Mary T. Clark profile|publisher=mville.edu|accessdate=March 5, 2015}}{{cite web|url=http://www.mville.edu/alumni/alumni-events/past-events/2012.html|title=2012 Alumni Events, Manhattanville College|accessdate=September 8, 2014|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017021415/http://www.mville.edu/alumni/alumni-events/past-events/2012.html|archivedate=October 17, 2013}}

She served as the President of the American Catholic Philosophical Association in 1977,{{cite web|url=http://www.acpaweb.org/about/2|title=American Catholic Philosophical Association website|publisher=acpaweb.org|accessdate=March 5, 2015}} of the Metaphysical Society of America, and of the Society for Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy.{{cite web|url=http://www.press.georgetown.edu/book/georgetown/augustine|title=Augustine|publisher=Georgetown University Press|accessdate=March 5, 2015}}{{cite web|url=http://www.smrphil.org/society.html |title=Society for Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy - Society |accessdate=September 8, 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328113525/http://www.smrphil.org/society.html |archivedate=March 28, 2012 }} Clark served on the executive committee of the Eastern Division of the American Philosophical Association, and towards the end of her life as a visiting academic at Ralston College.{{cite web|url=http://www.ralston.ac|title=Collegium Ralstonianum apud Savannenses|publisher=ralston.ac|accessdate=March 5, 2015}}

Clark was among the original Editorial Advisors of the scholarly journal Dionysius, to which she contributed a discussion of the relevance of Augustine's theology of the Trinity,{{cite web|url=https://www.dal.ca/faculty/arts/classics/journals/dionysius/i-xix.html|title=Department of Classics|work=Dalhousie University|accessdate=March 5, 2015}} and was in addition a member of the Board of Editorial Consultants of the Personalist Forum.{{cite web|url=http://secure.pdcnet.org/persforum/Editorial-Team|title=Editorial Team - The Personalist Forum - Philosophy Documentation Center|accessdate=March 5, 2015|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120516070301/http://secure.pdcnet.org/persforum/Editorial-Team|archivedate=May 16, 2012}}

Over the years, she also taught as a visiting professor at San Francisco, Fordham, Villanova, Fairfield, and Marquette universities. During the 1960s she led the Social Action Secretariat of the National Federation of Catholic College Students, which "initiated action, created literature, and hosted events during the civil rights era".

Works

Her books include:

  • Augustine
  • An Aquinas Reader
  • Augustine: Philosopher of Freedom (with Vernon J. Bourke)
  • Logic: a Practical Approach (with Helen Casey)
  • Augustinian Personalism
  • Discrimination Today: Guidelines for Civic Action
  • Augustine of Hippo: Selected Writings
  • The Problem of Freedom.

She also contributed a chapter on Augustine's De Trinitate to The Cambridge Companion to Augustine{{cite web|url=http://www.cambridge.org/gb/knowledge/isbn/item1160572/?site_locale=en_GB|title=The Cambridge Companion to Augustine - Classical philosophy - Cambridge University Press|accessdate=September 8, 2014}}{{page needed|date=January 2021}}{{cite web|url=http://cco.cambridge.org/extract?id=ccol0521650186_CCOL0521650186A009|title=The Cambridge Companion to Augustine Cambridge Companions Online - Cambridge University Press|accessdate=September 8, 2014|archive-date=March 27, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120327092057/http://cco.cambridge.org/extract?id=ccol0521650186_CCOL0521650186A009|url-status=dead}} and translated the Theological Treatises on the Trinity of Marius Victorinus.{{cite book |last1=Victorinus |first1=Marius |last2=Victorinus |first2=Gaius Marius |title=Theological Treatises on the Trinity |date=1981 |publisher=Catholic University of America Press |isbn=978-0-8132-0069-9 }}{{page needed|date=January 2021}}

Death

Sister Mary Clark died on September 1, 2014, aged 100. She was predeceased by her siblings, Rev. James D. Clark, George A. Clark, and Regina (Mrs. James P.) McGraney.[http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/timesunion-albany/obituary.aspx?pid=172351222#sthash.BvvwVQx5.dpuf Obituary], legacy.com; accessed March 5, 2015.

References

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