Nina Honemond Clarke was born in Poolesville on November 13, 1917, grew up in Dickerson, graduated from Rockville Colored High School in 1934, and received her first degree in elementary education from Hampton Institute in 1942. Her pursuit of higher education led to a master's from Boston University and postgraduate training at several other universities. The granddaughter of enslaved families, she overcame discrimination and segregation to become the supreme early education teacher in Montgomery County. She taught from her teens to near the last days of her life at 103 years old. Her career developed in Black-only elementary schools until 1954, after which she and Allison Claggett were among the first to teach white children in the Montgomery County Public Schools. Her life experience and insights shaped her curriculum and contributed to her success as a teacher, and the Board of Education named her the first black teacher specialist in reading and language arts. She retired in 1973 after 36 years of dedicated service in the MCPS system. In retirement, she studied the history of black education and the county public education system, leading to the co-authored 1978 book "A History of the Black Public Schools of Montgomery County, Maryland 1872-1961" and her 1983 book "A History of the 19th Century Black Churches in Maryland and the District of Columbia." Over a lifetime of 103 years, she received many honors, including the Montgomery County Lifetime Achievement in Heritage Education for leadership and contributions to the study of oral and written histories in the county.