James Clinton Clark, who spent his life helping black men and women get good paying jobs in trades and with the MBTA, and also helped transform vacant land at the old Boston State Hospital into hundreds of new housing units, died last week at age 78.

Clark served on the Boston Zoning Commission and the boards of the Mattapan Homeowners Association and the Mattapan Community Health Center. He taught English as a second language at Roxbury Community College and served as a clerk for the Boston Election Department.

Born in North Carolina, he graduated from Saint Augustine College in Raleigh, NC, and began a career as a teacher and an assistant principal in North Carolina. In 1965, he and his wife Dolores visited her brother in Boston, liked it, and decided to stay.

In 1969, he co-launched the Clark-Cooper Community Garden project with 19 families. Under his leadership, it has grown to include more than 200 gardeners from across Boston’s neighborhoods.

In his obituary, his family noted: “Jim’s first job in Boston was scheduling X-rays at Lahey Clinic. Jim eventually moved on and began working for the Recruitment and Training Program (RTP), which was under the leadership of civil rights and labor movement leader A. Phillip Randolph, one of his mentors.

Jim recruited, trained, and placed African-American men and women all over Boston into trades and jobs. For more a decade, hundreds of men and women were able to secure employment and raise their standard of living because of Jim Clark’s training and direction.”

Mr. Clark’s memorial service was held on Tues., Jan. 21, at Eliot Church of Roxbury.