Beatrice Vernise Clark Shelby was born on June 26, 1948, in Marvell, Phillips County, Arkansas.
Shelby attended Southern Business College in North Little Rock. She volunteered as a secretary for the NAACP.
From 1967 to 1981, she worked for Mid-Delta Community Services. Her work there led to her involvement with the Boys, Girls, Adults Community Development Center in Marvell. As the executive director of the BGACDC, she has been able to implement numerous projects, including low-income housing and home-ownership assistance, children's reading programs, school-to-work initiatives, physical wellness efforts, adult education, and senior employment. She was named 1993 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Community Health Leader and received the 2010 Brownie W. Ledbetter Dragon Slayer Award.
#1: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with Beatrice Clark Shelby at Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church; Marvell, Arkansas, 2011
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#2: Beatrice Clark Shelby's nephew, Frank Clark Jr.
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#3: Beatrice Clark Shelby's sister-in-law, Doris Palmer, wife of Frank Albert "F. A." Clark; inscription on photo: "To my husband whom I love very much, Doris Palmer"
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#4: High school graduation photo of Earlene Clark, Beatrice Clark Shelby's sister and daughter of Roosevelt and Pearlie Greer Clark
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#5: Beatrice Clark Shelby's nephew, Amos King Jr.
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#6: Charles E. Shelby Sr. and Beatrice Clark Shelby on their wedding day
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#7: Beatrice Clark Shelby with her husband, Charles Shelby Sr., and their children, LaPearl and Charles Shelby Jr.
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#8: Beatrice Clark Shelby's first cousin, Rudolph Hoskins, with his wife, Maxine, and their children, Kwame, Kamecha, and Demetrice
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#9: Beatrice Clark Shelby's uncle-in-law, Robert Shelby, with his wife, Mary, and their children, Pamela and Robert Shelby Jr.
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#10: Beatrice Clark Shelby's maternal uncle, Frank Greer, and her aunt, Joyce Greer
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#11: Beatrice Clark Shelby's oldest brother, Lloyd Clarence "L. C." Greer
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#12: Beatrice Clark Shelby's son, Charles Shelby Jr., with his great-grandfather, Rufus "Big Daddy" Shelby
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#13: Beatrice Clark Shelby's brother, L. C. Greer
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#14: Written on back of photo: Big Daddy Rufus C. Shelby
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#15: Beatrice Clark Shelby's nephew, Melvia Clark
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#16: Beatrice Clark Shelby
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#17: Beatrice Clark Shelby
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#18: Beatrice Clark Shelby (left) making a presentation
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#19: Beatrice Clark Shelby
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#20: Beatrice Clark Shelby; written on back of photo: "No one is going to look at you at 60"
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#21: Beatrice Clark Shelby with her daughter, LaPearl Shelby, and Clarence Wright, field office director of Save the Children
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#22: Beatrice Clark Shelby and her grandaughter, Karrington
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#23: Back row, left to right: Whitney Wyatt, Darron Shelby, Charles Shelby Sr., and Charles Shelby Jr.; front row, left to right: LaPearl Shelby, Drako Clark, Beatrice Clark Shelby, Holly Willis Johnson, and Aaron Shelby
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#24: Beatrice Clark Shelby's daughter, LaPearl Shelby
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#25: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with Beatrice Clark Shelby at Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church; Marvell, Arkansas, 2011
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#26: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with Beatrice Clark Shelby at Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church; Marvell, Arkansas, 2011
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
