Statement of Clemmons Family Farm's Board of Directors
on the Legacy of Jackson Joshua Walter Clemmons, MD, PhD, MS
We deeply mourn the passing of Dr. Jackson Joshua Walter Clemmons, who passed away peacefully in his sleep on September 10, 2025, at his home in Charlotte, Vermont. He was 102 years old. The Board of Directors of Clemmons Family Farm, Inc. remembers and honors his remarkable life that inspired the founding of our organization and our mission.
Dr. Clemmons was born in Beloit, Wisconsin on March 24, 1923, the son of Henry and Ora Bell Clemmons. His family’s history reflected both hardship and resilience: his maternal great-grandfather had been enslaved in Mississippi, and his grandparents joined the Great Migration to the Midwest in 1914. His maternal grandfather, Walter Bell, a master painter and carpenter, taught young Jackson those trades. Meanwhile, his paternal grandfather, J.J. Clemmons, who was originally from Martinique, was a University of Chicago law school graduate. In 1917, he founded and served as the principal of the JJ Clemmons High School, the first school for African American children in Washington County, North Carolina. In the early 2000's, the school was merged into the Washington County High School.
Dr. Clemmons’ father, Henry, a graduate of Hampton Institute (now Hampton University), worked for the railroads. His stories of his travels on the rails, including trips to New England, inspired Dr. Clemmons' own love of travel and may have somehow indirectly influenced his path to eventually relocate from the midwest to Vermont in the 1960s.
"Henry Clemmons traveled extensively prior to his appearance in Beloit, Wisconsin: St. Louis, Kansas City, Portland, San Francisco, Dallas, New Orleans, Memphis, Charlestown, Wilmington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, Lake George, Saratoga, Boston, Lake Louise ----- and more. Chicago was central in most train trips across the country. His travels were important to me, as his descriptions of the places he visited were impressive and accurate. My brother James and I were encouraged to read about them and locate them as we spread out our maps on the kitchen table and made notes as one of our Sunday activities.
My first knowledge of New England colonial houses-- the green shutters, fireplaces, maple sugaring, etc. came from my father."
~Excerpt of a June 16, 2008 letter from Jackson Clemmons to his eldest daughter, Lydia Clemmons.
Dr. Clemmons' parents opened a hat shop and laundromat in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Their shop, Clemmons Cleaners and Dryers, was located next door to the offices of the Milwaukee Journal, whose reporters frequented the family business. The reporters gave the young Jackson Clemmons their expired rolls of film, sparking his early passion for photography. He learned to shine shoes and make hats, and with the tips he received from his parents’ customers, young Jackson purchased his first camera. When he was not working or studying, he enjoyed drawing—an interest his mother, Ora, gently encouraged.
Dr. Clemmons attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison to study agriculture, but his education was interrupted by World War II. Drafted into the military, he served in the Philippines before eventually returning to UW-Madison to complete a B.S. in Agriculture (1948), an M.S. in Biochemistry (1949), and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry (1956). He was the first African American student in the university’s biochemistry department. Working alongside his mentor, Dr. Karl Paul Link, Dr. Clemmons contributed to the development of a series of anticoagulants, including what is now known as d-CON (a popular brand of rat poison), Dicoumarol, and Warfarin, a groundbreaking prescription anticoagulant that reduces the risk of blood clots, saving countless lives worldwide.
Dr. Jackson Clemmons was awarded prestigious postdoctoral fellowships, including two from the American Cancer Society and a highly competitive Helen Hay Whitney Fellowship. He continued his research at the Karolinska Institute of Biophysics and Cell Research in Stockholm, Sweden, and at the Sloan Kettering Institute for Cancer Research in New York City.
During his graduate studies in Wisconsin in the 1950s, Dr. Clemmons met the beautiful Lydia Monroe, a nurse anesthetist. He asked her to marry him on their second date, but she insisted he wait a year and ask again. He did, and on December 26, 1952, they married in her parents’ home in Harvey, Illinois.
After completing his doctoral studies, Dr. Clemmons pursued medicine at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland. The university rescinded his financial aid package, apparently after learning that he was African American. Dr. Clemmons and his wife Lydia refused to give up. For four years, they worked multiple jobs while he continued his studies, and lived on a frugal diet that consisted primarily of oatmeal, canned baked beans, and chocolate bars. In 1959, he completed his medical training and earned his M.D.
In 1962, Dr. Clemmons joined the University of Vermont Medical College as a pediatric pathologist and professor—the second African American on its faculty. Over decades, he taught several thousand students, mentoring many—especially students of color. He was prolific in publishing his scientific research, and served as an advisor to the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Drawing on the carpentry skills he had learned from his grandfather, Dr. Clemmons often designed and built his own laboratory equipment. As both a civil rights advocate and a pediatric pathologist, he saw the links between social inequities and child health outcomes, and often did public speaking, writing, and advocacy about the need to integrate social justice into the teaching and practice of medicine.
Dr. Clemmons was born in Beloit, Wisconsin on March 24, 1923, the son of Henry and Ora Bell Clemmons. His family’s history reflected both hardship and resilience: his maternal great-grandfather had been enslaved in Mississippi, and his grandparents joined the Great Migration to the Midwest in 1914. His maternal grandfather, Walter Bell, a master painter and carpenter, taught young Jackson those trades. Meanwhile, his paternal grandfather, J.J. Clemmons, who was originally from Martinique, was a University of Chicago law school graduate. In 1917, he founded and served as the principal of the JJ Clemmons High School, the first school for African American children in Washington County, North Carolina. In the early 2000's, the school was merged into the Washington County High School.
Dr. Clemmons’ father, Henry, a graduate of Hampton Institute (now Hampton University), worked for the railroads. His stories of his travels on the rails, including trips to New England, inspired Dr. Clemmons' own love of travel and may have somehow indirectly influenced his path to eventually relocate from the midwest to Vermont in the 1960s.
"Henry Clemmons traveled extensively prior to his appearance in Beloit, Wisconsin: St. Louis, Kansas City, Portland, San Francisco, Dallas, New Orleans, Memphis, Charlestown, Wilmington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, Lake George, Saratoga, Boston, Lake Louise ----- and more. Chicago was central in most train trips across the country. His travels were important to me, as his descriptions of the places he visited were impressive and accurate. My brother James and I were encouraged to read about them and locate them as we spread out our maps on the kitchen table and made notes as one of our Sunday activities.
My first knowledge of New England colonial houses-- the green shutters, fireplaces, maple sugaring, etc. came from my father."
~Excerpt of a June 16, 2008 letter from Jackson Clemmons to his eldest daughter, Lydia Clemmons.
Dr. Clemmons' parents opened a hat shop and laundromat in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Their shop, Clemmons Cleaners and Dryers, was located next door to the offices of the Milwaukee Journal, whose reporters frequented the family business. The reporters gave the young Jackson Clemmons their expired rolls of film, sparking his early passion for photography. He learned to shine shoes and make hats, and with the tips he received from his parents’ customers, young Jackson purchased his first camera. When he was not working or studying, he enjoyed drawing—an interest his mother, Ora, gently encouraged.
Dr. Clemmons attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison to study agriculture, but his education was interrupted by World War II. Drafted into the military, he served in the Philippines before eventually returning to UW-Madison to complete a B.S. in Agriculture (1948), an M.S. in Biochemistry (1949), and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry (1956). He was the first African American student in the university’s biochemistry department. Working alongside his mentor, Dr. Karl Paul Link, Dr. Clemmons contributed to the development of a series of anticoagulants, including what is now known as d-CON (a popular brand of rat poison), Dicoumarol, and Warfarin, a groundbreaking prescription anticoagulant that reduces the risk of blood clots, saving countless lives worldwide.
Dr. Jackson Clemmons was awarded prestigious postdoctoral fellowships, including two from the American Cancer Society and a highly competitive Helen Hay Whitney Fellowship. He continued his research at the Karolinska Institute of Biophysics and Cell Research in Stockholm, Sweden, and at the Sloan Kettering Institute for Cancer Research in New York City.
During his graduate studies in Wisconsin in the 1950s, Dr. Clemmons met the beautiful Lydia Monroe, a nurse anesthetist. He asked her to marry him on their second date, but she insisted he wait a year and ask again. He did, and on December 26, 1952, they married in her parents’ home in Harvey, Illinois.
After completing his doctoral studies, Dr. Clemmons pursued medicine at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland. The university rescinded his financial aid package, apparently after learning that he was African American. Dr. Clemmons and his wife Lydia refused to give up. For four years, they worked multiple jobs while he continued his studies, and lived on a frugal diet that consisted primarily of oatmeal, canned baked beans, and chocolate bars. In 1959, he completed his medical training and earned his M.D.
In 1962, Dr. Clemmons joined the University of Vermont Medical College as a pediatric pathologist and professor—the second African American on its faculty. Over decades, he taught several thousand students, mentoring many—especially students of color. He was prolific in publishing his scientific research, and served as an advisor to the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Drawing on the carpentry skills he had learned from his grandfather, Dr. Clemmons often designed and built his own laboratory equipment. As both a civil rights advocate and a pediatric pathologist, he saw the links between social inequities and child health outcomes, and often did public speaking, writing, and advocacy about the need to integrate social justice into the teaching and practice of medicine.
"Social pathology is the major cause of disease affecting children. Drug abuse, poverty, racism and indifference to human needs are the threatening diseases of our time. As we modify curricula it is essential for national and international health to maintain an academic environment that nurtures 'physician activists' of a type exemplified by Virchow. Virchow was an adversary of Bismark in the Reichstag and in the press. While making outstanding contributions to the understanding of disease, Virchow's political career coincided with those of other radical reformers who brought about the fall of reactionary government in Germany. Physicians must be actively involved with the diagnosis and treatment of social pathology."
~Jackson JW Clemmons, PhD, MD, University of Vermont Medical School Year Book; circa 1973.
With his wife, Lydia, Dr. Clemmons shared a love of travel and discovery. Their honeymoon in 1953 was a cross-country trip to visit his wife’s sister in Los Angeles. Dr. Clemmons’ mother, Ora, who had lost her husband the previous year, accompanied them. They made the trip during the Jim Crow era of legal racial segregation. Since safe lodging was not guaranteed, they camped all the way from Illinois to California. Later, they traveled to Sweden and New York City during Dr. Clemmons’ research fellowships, and in 1962 they drove from Ohio to Vermont in their 1950s emerald-green MG to relocate for his new appointment at the University of Vermont Medical College. Much to the chagrin of their families, friends, and colleagues, rather than buying a modern urban home, they invested everything they had to purchase a historic 148-acre farm in Charlotte.
In 1983, Dr. Clemmons was invited to work at the Mount Kilimanjaro Hospital in Tanzania, where a team of pathologists were investigating a mysterious disease that was responsible for the deaths of thousands (years later identified as Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome- AIDS). He accepted the invitation on the condition that his wife, Lydia, who was a nurse anesthetist, could accompany him. They enjoyed the experience so much, that, after they returned to Vermont, Dr. Clemmons began carefully researching and curating more travels to Africa. He and Lydia subsequently traveled and volunteered in hospitals across the continent over a span of nearly 20 years. In the 1980s, they founded Authentica African Imports, then one of the only exclusively African retail mail order and import businesses in the country. While his wife managed the daily operations, Dr. Clemmons repaired the African art and artifacts, built display bases for sculptures and masks, and joined her in sourcing art across the continent.
Within his Vermont community, Dr. Clemmons became deeply involved in education at the local level. He served as co-president of the Charlotte Central School PTA with his wife, and as Vice Chair and later Chair of the Champlain Valley Union High School board, where he worked to improve educational opportunities and foster inclusivity for all children.
Dr. Clemmons was also a farmer and environmentalist. For over sixty years, he resisted development pressures on his family farm in Charlotte, and instead invested in planting thousands of pine trees in the farm’s forest, and taught his children how to cherish and cultivate the land. Using the painting and carpentry skills he had learned as a child working alongside his maternal grandfather, Walter Bell, in the 1930s, Dr. Clemmons restored the historic buildings on his farm, one by one. His magnum opus as an artist and maker is the historic Barn House, which he created by relocating a late 19th century granary and hay barn on the farm, joining the two buildings together, and masterfully rehabilitating them into a beautiful three-story building showcasing the magnificent hand-hewn beams and architecture of old Vermont barns. His motivation behind this work was three-part: (1) his love of old barns and his commitment to preserve them; (2) his wish to create a place for his children and grandchildren to enjoy for generations to come; and (3) his desire to create a beautiful space to welcome friends, neighbors, and community.
Dr. Clemmons shared his love of photography and drawing with his family, taking thousands of photos over the years, and teaching his children and grandchildren to create beautiful woodblock prints of the farm and of African art and imagery. Inspired by his experiences across America, Europe, and Africa, he dreamed of transforming the farm into a foundation, and a place of teaching and multicultural exchange. His home and farm were always open, creating a welcoming space for students, artists, and visitors from around the world.
"You should give some thought and time to creating your own foundation and involve some of the best people you have worked with. This place (the Clemmons Farm) could be ideal for that in many aspects and I believe unique enough to get funding. Make your Charlotte rural setting the hub for developing the wholesome rural communities you have been striving for and are most familiar with. Think of the different talented people you know that could be attracted to this type of community development program. The community itself would be capable of contributing so much to its own development. My regret at this time is age!
Take time to rest and think over what you have done and consider fresh approaches for the future."
~Excerpt of a April 18, 2009 letter from Jackson JW Clemmons to his daughter, Lydia Clemmons.
In 2023, when they were both 100 years old, Dr. Clemmons and his wife, Lydia, secured their legacy by selling their beloved farm to Clemmons Family Farm, Inc.- the nonprofit organization that his wife and eldest daughter co-founded with others in 2019- ensuring its preservation as a center for African American heritage, art, farming, and multicultural community building.
After having lived a very full life, Dr. Jackson Clemmons is now reunited with his beloved wife, who predeceased him in August 2024. He leaves behind their five children, twelve grandchildren, extended family in Wisconsin, Maryland, and California, and a global community of students, mentees, and friends who loved and admired him.
As Clemmons Family Farm's Board of Directors, we are inspired by Dr. Clemmons' commitment to social justice, to his community, and to the next generations. As we continue his legacy through our organizational mission and our work, we strive to uphold these commitments along with his deep love for his family farm in Charlotte.
James Bentil, Director and Secretary
Lydia Clemmons, Director and President
Kay Johnson, Director and Treasurer
Robin Anthony Kouyate, Director
Catharine Noel, Director
In 1983, Dr. Clemmons was invited to work at the Mount Kilimanjaro Hospital in Tanzania, where a team of pathologists were investigating a mysterious disease that was responsible for the deaths of thousands (years later identified as Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome- AIDS). He accepted the invitation on the condition that his wife, Lydia, who was a nurse anesthetist, could accompany him. They enjoyed the experience so much, that, after they returned to Vermont, Dr. Clemmons began carefully researching and curating more travels to Africa. He and Lydia subsequently traveled and volunteered in hospitals across the continent over a span of nearly 20 years. In the 1980s, they founded Authentica African Imports, then one of the only exclusively African retail mail order and import businesses in the country. While his wife managed the daily operations, Dr. Clemmons repaired the African art and artifacts, built display bases for sculptures and masks, and joined her in sourcing art across the continent.
Within his Vermont community, Dr. Clemmons became deeply involved in education at the local level. He served as co-president of the Charlotte Central School PTA with his wife, and as Vice Chair and later Chair of the Champlain Valley Union High School board, where he worked to improve educational opportunities and foster inclusivity for all children.
Dr. Clemmons was also a farmer and environmentalist. For over sixty years, he resisted development pressures on his family farm in Charlotte, and instead invested in planting thousands of pine trees in the farm’s forest, and taught his children how to cherish and cultivate the land. Using the painting and carpentry skills he had learned as a child working alongside his maternal grandfather, Walter Bell, in the 1930s, Dr. Clemmons restored the historic buildings on his farm, one by one. His magnum opus as an artist and maker is the historic Barn House, which he created by relocating a late 19th century granary and hay barn on the farm, joining the two buildings together, and masterfully rehabilitating them into a beautiful three-story building showcasing the magnificent hand-hewn beams and architecture of old Vermont barns. His motivation behind this work was three-part: (1) his love of old barns and his commitment to preserve them; (2) his wish to create a place for his children and grandchildren to enjoy for generations to come; and (3) his desire to create a beautiful space to welcome friends, neighbors, and community.
Dr. Clemmons shared his love of photography and drawing with his family, taking thousands of photos over the years, and teaching his children and grandchildren to create beautiful woodblock prints of the farm and of African art and imagery. Inspired by his experiences across America, Europe, and Africa, he dreamed of transforming the farm into a foundation, and a place of teaching and multicultural exchange. His home and farm were always open, creating a welcoming space for students, artists, and visitors from around the world.
"You should give some thought and time to creating your own foundation and involve some of the best people you have worked with. This place (the Clemmons Farm) could be ideal for that in many aspects and I believe unique enough to get funding. Make your Charlotte rural setting the hub for developing the wholesome rural communities you have been striving for and are most familiar with. Think of the different talented people you know that could be attracted to this type of community development program. The community itself would be capable of contributing so much to its own development. My regret at this time is age!
Take time to rest and think over what you have done and consider fresh approaches for the future."
~Excerpt of a April 18, 2009 letter from Jackson JW Clemmons to his daughter, Lydia Clemmons.
In 2023, when they were both 100 years old, Dr. Clemmons and his wife, Lydia, secured their legacy by selling their beloved farm to Clemmons Family Farm, Inc.- the nonprofit organization that his wife and eldest daughter co-founded with others in 2019- ensuring its preservation as a center for African American heritage, art, farming, and multicultural community building.
After having lived a very full life, Dr. Jackson Clemmons is now reunited with his beloved wife, who predeceased him in August 2024. He leaves behind their five children, twelve grandchildren, extended family in Wisconsin, Maryland, and California, and a global community of students, mentees, and friends who loved and admired him.
As Clemmons Family Farm's Board of Directors, we are inspired by Dr. Clemmons' commitment to social justice, to his community, and to the next generations. As we continue his legacy through our organizational mission and our work, we strive to uphold these commitments along with his deep love for his family farm in Charlotte.
James Bentil, Director and Secretary
Lydia Clemmons, Director and President
Kay Johnson, Director and Treasurer
Robin Anthony Kouyate, Director
Catharine Noel, Director
Learn more about some of Dr. Clemmons’ ideas for his family farm and its role:
"How Blacks Fare in the Whitest State", Ebony Magazine, 1987
"This Place in History" Interview, Vermont Historical Society, 2018
"A Pioneer in the Lab and on the Land", University of Vermont News, 2020
Tribute to the Clemmons Family, Senator Bernie Sanders, Assembly of the US Congress, 2021
"How Blacks Fare in the Whitest State", Ebony Magazine, 1987
"This Place in History" Interview, Vermont Historical Society, 2018
"A Pioneer in the Lab and on the Land", University of Vermont News, 2020
Tribute to the Clemmons Family, Senator Bernie Sanders, Assembly of the US Congress, 2021
