Alexis B. Clark

Alexis Clark is an author and freelance journalist. She writes about history with a focus on race, culture and politics during World War II and the Civil Rights era. She’s a contributing writer for History.com with stories on African American culture, the military and milestones in social and racial justice. Clark’s also a correspondent for the public affairs television program, Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien, where she reports on historic and contemporary issues, such as poverty, food insecurity, the building trades industry and neglected neighborhoods.

Clark has written a variety of features for The New York Times over the years, from the treatment of Black servicemembers in World War II to sibling separation in New York State’s foster care system. She contributed to “Beyond the World War II We Know,” a Times series documenting lesser-known stories from the war. Clark also helped launch “Past Tense,” a special digital series in 2018. The project brought narratives of the past to life in a series of articles that showcased photographs from the New York Times archive.

Clark has received grants from the Ford Foundation for her World War II research projects, and her narrative non-fiction book, "Enemies in Love: A German POW, a Black Nurse and an Unlikely Romance," was published by The New Press in 2018. The book has since been covered by The New Yorker, The New York Times, PBS Newshour Weekend, NPR, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien, Essence, WNYC and Bloomberg TV. In addition, “Enemies in Love” is being developed into a television series.

Clark started her journalism career in 2002 and is a former senior editor at Town & Country magazine where she covered cultural and philanthropic events across the country, including President Barack Obama’s inauguration. Her work has also been published by Smithsonian.com, Preservation Magazine, NBC News Digital and other publications. Clark is currently under contract with Penguin Random House for a nonfiction book on America’s Black sororities and their fight for gender and racial equality.

Clark, a Dallas native, is a graduate of Columbia Journalism School. She also holds an M.A. in Government from the University of Virginia and a B.A. in Political Science from Spelman College.