Dr. Mattie Moss Clark

Dr. Mattie Moss Clark was a gospel choir director for most of her life, and is often credited as one of the first to teach three-part harmony to a choir. Born in 1925 in Selma, AL, Clark relocated to Detroit, MI, in 1958, and shortly thereafter organized the Southwest Michigan State Choir of the Church of God in Christ. In addition to being a songwriter, vocalist, pianist, arranger, and choir director, Clark was also president of the National Music Deptartment of the Church of God in Christ for 25 years, and founded the Clark Conservatory School of Music in Detroit. Over the years, Clark recorded with such artists as Elder James Moore, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Elder James Lennox, Rev. Richard "Mr. Clean" White, and Betty Ransom Nelson, while Clark also helped such artists as Walter Hawkins, Hezekiah Walker, and Richard Smallwood get their careers started. Clark recorded more than 35 albums during her career (and was one of the first gospel artists to receive a gold-certified album), before passing away at the age of 69, on September 22, 1994, in Southfield, MI.