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Clara A. L. Virginia Fields[1]
Fields in 2015
25thBorough President ofManhattan
In office January 1, 1998 – December 31, 2005
Preceded by	Ruth Messinger
Succeeded by	Scott Stringer
Personal details
Born	Clara Virginia Clark August 6, 1945 (1945-08-06) (age 79) Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Henry Fields ​ ​ (m. 1971; div. 1985)​
Alma mater	Knoxville College (1967) Indiana University (1969)

Clara A. L. Virginia Fields, better known asC. Virginia Fields (néeClark; born August 6, 1945),^[2] is an American politician who served asBorough President ofManhattan. She was served two terms, elected in 1997 and reelected in 2001, with her second term expiring at the end of 2005.

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Clara Virginia Clark was born inBirmingham, Alabama to Peter and Lucille Clark. She received aB.A. in sociology fromKnoxville College inTennessee in 1967 and anM.S.W. fromIndiana University Bloomington in 1969. She married Henry Fields in 1971; they divorced in 1985.^[3][2] In 1971, she moved toNew York City and became a social worker. In the late 1970s and 1980s she worked in a variety of administrative positions in the social services field, while also becoming involved in community politics.

Fields was known for her activism during the height of thecivil rights movement in which she participated in a number of protests and marches, thus beginning her foray into social and political advocacy. She is a member ofAlpha Kappa Alpha.

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In 1989, Fields was elected to the New York City Council. In 1997, Fields was elected Manhattan Borough President, afterRuth Messinger served the maximum two terms. Fields supported cultural organizations such as the New York Shakespeare Festival and the West Side Arts Coalition. She was in office during theSeptember 11 attacks.

In 2005, Fields was aDemocratic candidate for mayor ofNew York City. In early polls, she placed second to Bronx Borough PresidentFernando Ferrer. She received criticism for her campaign's perceived lack of policy-based motivation, with some critics pointing to the term limits of her position at the time as the real impetus for her campaign. It was discovered that her campaign literature included photographs doctored to create the impression of diversity in support. Fields never found traction and in the primary she finished third with 15.92% of the vote.^[4] Fields finished behind former Bronx Borough PresidentFernando Ferrer and CongressmanAnthony Weiner, but ahead of City Council SpeakerGifford Miller.

In March 2006 it was reported that Fields would run for theState Senate seat representing Harlem and parts of Upper Manhattan, being vacated by Senate Minority LeaderDavid Paterson. (Paterson ran forlieutenant governor on a ticket headed by State Attorney GeneralEliot Spitzer who was running for governor.) On June 1, 2006, Fields announced that she was ending her Senate campaign, explaining that it was not the right time for her to run.

Fields became President and CEO of the non-profit organization, National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS (NBLCA) in 2008.^[5] During her tenure the organization rebranded itself as the National Black Leadership Commission on Health ("Black Health") and broadened its focus to include other diseases that disproportionately affect Black Americans. She retired as President and CEO of Black Health in June 2024. New York City Mayor Eric Adams designated June 19, 2024 as C. Virginia Fields Day, which coincided with the National Juneteenth Holiday.^[6]

• Government of New York City

• Paterson, DavidBlack, Blind, & In Charge: A Story of Visionary Leadership and Overcoming Adversity. New York, New York, 2020
• John C. Walker,The Harlem Fox: J. Raymond Jones at Tammany 1920:1970, New York: State University New York Press, 1989.
• David N. Dinkins,A Mayor's Life: Governing New York's Gorgeous Mosaic, PublicAffairs Books, 2013
• Rangel, Charles B.; Wynter, Leon (2007).And I Haven't Had a Bad Day Since: From the Streets of Harlem to the Halls of Congress. New York: St. Martin's Press.
• Baker Motley, ConstanceEqual Justice Under The Law: An Autobiography, New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1998.
• Howell, RonBoss of Black Brooklyn: The Life and Times ofBertram L. Baker Fordham University Press Bronx, New York 2018
• Jack, HulanFifty Years a Democrat:The Autobiography of Hulan Jack New Benjamin Franklin House New York, NY 1983
• Clayton-Powell, AdamAdam by Adam:The Autobiography of Adam Clayton Powell Jr. New York, New York 1972
• Pritchett, Wendell E.Robert Clifton Weaver and the American City: The Life and Times of an Urban Reformer Chicago: University of Chicago Press 2008
• Davis, BenjaminCommunist Councilman from Harlem:Autobiographical Notes Written in a Federal Penitentiary New York, New York 1969

• 1945 births
• Living people
• African-American New York City Council members
• 20th-century African-American women politicians
• Manhattan borough presidents
• New York City Council members
• New York (state) Democrats
• 2004 United States presidential electors
• Politicians from Birmingham, Alabama
• Knoxville College alumni
• Indiana University Bloomington alumni
• 21st-century American women politicians
• 20th-century American women politicians
• Women New York City Council members
• 20th-century African-American politicians
• 21st-century African-American women politicians
• 21st-century African-American politicians
• 20th-century New York (state) politicians
• 21st-century New York (state) politicians

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