Margaret Washington Clifford advertisement

Margaret Washington Clifford, one of only two surviving granddaughters of Booker T. Washington, died last week in Atlanta. Clifford turned 88 on Monday, August 31.

A service for Mrs. Clifford will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. at Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church in Atlanta, her home church. She will be buried following a rain-or-shine graveside service Monday, September 14, at 1 p.m. at the Tuskegee University Historic Cemetery located outside the University Chapel.

“The Tuskegee University family is deeply saddened,” said Dr. Benjamin F. Payton, Tuskegee University President. “We will keep the Washington family in our prayers during this difficult time. Mrs. Clifford was a strong supporter of the University, of me and my family, and of my administration.”

Clifford, the second daughter of Booker T. Washington and Edith Washington Shehee, was born in Chicago in 1921. She was educated at Tuskegee University from kindergarten through her first master’s degree in education and later attended Atlanta University, where she earned a second master’s degree in counseling and guidance.

While in Tuskegee, Mrs. Clifford taught at Tuskegee Institute High School and worked on the Tuskegee University campus.

Clifford received additional graduate education in administration and supervision from California State University, San Francisco State University and the University of California at Berkeley. She served as a teacher, counselor and vice president in California schools before returning to Atlanta University in 1976 to teach. Clifford retired from Atlanta University in 1986.

Clifford was a life member of the Phi Delta Kappa international organization, whose purpose is to promote quality education worldwide. She also held membership in Delta Kappa Gamma International Honor Society for women teachers, the American Association for Counseling and Development, the American Association of University Women, the National Council of Negro Women, the Southeastern Psychological Association and other organizations.

Clifford was an active member of Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church in Atlanta where she served on the Usher’s Board, Daughters of the King and the Church Newsletter Board.

She was the Basilus of Beta Xi Omega, the Alpha Xi Alpha Tuskegee chapter, and niece of AXA founder Sarah Meriwether Nutter.

Clifford was also an entrepreneur. In 1981 she reopened the Washington Candy Company, which was started in Tuskegee by her mother in 1922 and continued until her mother’s death in 1968.

Clifford was the widow of the late Dr. Paul I. Clifford, mother of the late Luke Cabiness and sister of the late Louise Washington O’Neal and Edith Washington Johnson. She is survived by her children, Marshal Abuwi and Robin C. Banks, and her sister Gloria Jackson Baskin.