Explore the Legacy

[The title reads The Kneadle, volume 1, number 1, with the headline in bold reading “Student Demonstrators Continue Vigil at FSU.” The article references a student protest against free speech censorship.]

[A color photograph of Clifton holding a round sign that says “ERA YES.” She is surrounded by other demonstrators. The Florida Capitol Complex is visible behind her. The wind is sweeping her hair forward over her shoulder.]

In the 1970 and 1980s, Clifton marched with many others on Florida’s capitol, demonstrating support for the Equal Rights Amendment. In this photograph from 1982, Clifton stood with nearly 8,000 other citizens in support of the ERA amendment which guaranteed rights regardless of sex. The amendment failed to be ratified by 38 states, missing just three votes. Florida continues to be a state without an Equal Rights Amendment in place.

[Black and white photograph of six students of different ethnicities, who are part of the Florida State University International Students' Club. There are five female students and one male student and they are standing around a table that has a cake on top. It is a two-tier white cake with a border of international flags on the bottom tier, and the United Nations flag on the top layer.]

Clifton founded a house for international students attending FSU on Copeland Street near Westcott, but local law made meetings of Model United Nations members at FSU and FAMU difficult. Due to strict racial intermingling laws governing FSU campus in the late 1950s, black and white students were not permitted to meet on FSU’s campus. Clifton asked Florida House Representative Ralph Turlington to help her find a meeting space for the students. He then arranged for the Florida House Chamber to be used for Model UN sessions.

[A black and white photograph of Clifton standing with arms outstretched at the top of a staircase. She wears a black smock and her hair pulled back under a scarf. Behind her is a large banner reading “Art is good for the soul and the pocket book.”]

Clad in her typical garb of loose-fitting smock and tucked away hair, Clifton advocated for the importance of art as a balm for the spirit but also as an economic necessity for a successful community. She supported artists by exhibiting their works at her galleries and in her home, by renting studio space to them at the Randall-Lewis House, and by arguing for fair compensation for talented creators.