Margaret Louise Sirman Clark was born in Dixie, Georgia. She moved to New York City before settling in Arkansas.
Clark earned degrees at Arkansas AM&N and the University of Arkansas. Clark furthered her French studies at Rutgers University, the Institut des Professeurs de Français at the Sorbonne, and the Université de Besançon. In 1969, she became one of the first African American professors at the University of Arkansas, where she taught French and education classes. Clark earned University of Arkansas associate professor emerita status in the department of curriculum and instruction in 1998.
She has served on the boards of the Washington County Historical Society, the Arkansas-East Bolivia Partners of the Americas, and the Arkansas Alumni Association. Clark is the recipient of the 1989 National Panhellenic Award for Outstanding Faculty Member, the Martin Luther King Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Silas Hunt Legacy Award.
