Harvey, Clarie Collins, 1916-1995
Dates
- Existence: 1916 - 1995
Biographical Statement
Clarie Collins Harvey (1916-1995) was a church leader and businesswoman in Mississippi, who was active in civil rights, the women's movement, and the international peace movement. She was owner-president of the Collins Funeral Home and the Collins Insurance Company, family businesses in Jackson, Mississippi. She was a long-time member and eventual president of Church Women United, and was a co-founder of Womanpower Unlimited in 1961 to aid civil rights workers in Mississippi.
Born Emma Augusta Clarie Collins on November 27, 1916, Harvey was the only child of Malachi C. and Mary Rayford Collins of Meridian, Mississippi, who were owners of a funeral and insurance business. Harvey was educated at Tougaloo College and Spelman College. After completing her BA in Economics at Spelman in 1937, Harvey attended the Indiana Institute of Mortuary Science. She received an MA in Personnel Administration from Columbia University in 1950 and then attended the Graduate School of Business Administration at New York University. After her parents' deaths, Harvey became the president of Collins Funeral Home Inc. and Collins Insurance Companies in Jackson, Mississippi, which she built into multi-million dollar businesses. She later co-founded the State Mutual Savings and Loan Association and the Unity Life Insurance and Industrial Insurance Company.
She married minister and school administrator Martin Luther Harvey in August 1943. . With their wealth from Clarie's business ventures, the Harveys worked together in the areas of civil rights and in religious and civic matters until Martin Harvey's death in 1976. Throughout her life, Harvey served with the Young Women's Christian Association and with the Women's International Strike for Peace. In 1961, Harvey co-founded the interdenominational, interracial Womanpower Unlimited, which aided the Freedom Riders in Mississippi, providing them with food, money, and shelter. From 1971 to 1974, Harvey was the first African American to lead Church Women United, the largest women's organization in the world.
Harvey served as a trustee for numerous academic and civic institutions, including Atlanta University, Rust College, Tuskegee Institute, the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Social Change. Due to her activism and leadership, Harvey received numerous awards and recognitions. In addition, she wrote numerous articles and publications on her life and work, including From Caterpillar to Butterfly (1976), which pertained to her church work and efforts to establish the Mary Rayford Collins Library at Atlanta University, which was named after her mother, a librarian. Harvey passed away on May 27 1995.