Willie worked as an independent mason and a landscaping contractor while Imogene was a homemaker and a nurses aide.

She later transferred to Little Rock Central High School in 1957 following the Brown v. Board of Education decision.

The students originally attempted to enter the school on September 4, 1957, but were stopped by the Arkansas National Guard called in by Governor Orval Faubus.

[4] In response, President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent 1,200 U.S. paratroopers from the 101st Airborne Division to assist the Little Rock Nine in entering the school.

The Clarks were African American psychologists who helped with the argument presented by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in the Brown v. Board of Education case.

[1][3] She moved back to America and worked for the Clinton Administration in 1999 through 2001 as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Workforce Diversity at the Department of the Interior.

She became a public speaker, and has spoken in 49 states as well as several countries including Canada, England, and South Africa.

[1][11] Under the Clinton administration, Brown-Trickey received the Congressional Gold Medal in 1999 alongside the other members of the Little Rock Nine.