High Schoolers

As the Civil War came to an end, Alexander Clark saw possibilities. He’d helped dismantle slavery, and now he wanted a piece of the next big fight -- the fight for equality. So he and other black men lobbied Iowa for voting rights. When they won that fight, Clark turned his attention to education. His home sat next door to Grammar School No. 2. It was a good public school. But his children couldn’t attend it. Instead, they had to go to a poorly funded school about a mile away. So when his daughter Susan was 12 years old, Alexander and his wife Catherine sent her to Grammar School No. 2. When she was turned away, they sued.

Then Brandi tells us about 17-year-old Ashley Reeves. Ashley had always been a dependable kid, so when she broke curfew one April night in 2006, her mom immediately knew that something was wrong. Initially, police suspected Ashley’s boyfriend. But when that lead didn’t go anywhere, they turned their focus on a 27-year-old physical education teacher named Samson Shelton.

And now for a note about our process. For each episode, Kristin reads a bunch of articles, then spits them back out in her very limited vocabulary. Brandi copies and pastes from the best sources on the web. And sometimes Wikipedia. (No shade, Wikipedia. We love you.) We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases.

The documentary “Lost in History: Alexander Clark” by Iowa PBS

“Clark v. Board of School Directors: Reflections After 150 Years,” by Drake School of Law

“Alexander Clark,” entry on Wikipedia

“Muscatine, Iowa,” entry on Wikipedia

“Clark v. Board of School Directors,” entry on Wikipedia

“Deadly Lessons” episode On the Case with Paula Zahn

“Midwestern Teen Left For Dead In Woods” episode Crime Watch Daily

“Did Teacher Strangle Teen, Go Dancing?” by Christine Lagorio, CBS News

“Mother: Ashley Reeves Neck Not Broken” by Beth Hundsdorfer, The Belleville News-Democrat

“‘Miracle’ Girls Sees Attacker Sentenced” Associated Press, The Oklahoman