This playground and the adjacent junior high school honor a dedicated Bronx educator and administrator, Elijah D. Clark.
Clark entered the New York City public school system as a teacher, and became an assistant principal at a Bronx elementary school in the late 1950s. When the Board of Education planned J.H.S. 149, Clark was granted the position of principal. In 1956, the City acquired the land for the school and playground. After years of planning and construction, the school and playground opened in 1961. Serving as its principal throughout the 1960s, Clark’s commitment to J.H.S. 149 in its earliest years was recognized by the Board of Education, which named the two facilities for Clark.