Dr. Muse was born in Highstown, New Jersey, where he also attended high school.[3] He graduated from Hartwick College in Oneonta, New York, and Howard University.[1]
In 1981, Muse began working at Howard University. He has remained an adjunct faculty member at Howard, as well as The Catholic University of America, for over 30 years. He teaches courses on American history, archives and information management.[3] He specializes in studying black history around the world and has contributed heavily to Moorland-Spingarn's impressive collection.[4]
He is also a career-long member of the Society of American Archivists and was influential in creating diversity committees, task forces, and even in the roundtable. Along with 8 other SAA members, Muse helped to form the Archivists and Archives of Color Roundtable in 1987.[5]
He has written numerous articles and book reviews in many publications. He is most well known for his articles on Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King, Jr. He has also written heavily on the history of Howard University and his articles, "Howard University and U.S. Foreign Affairs During the Franklin D. Roosevelt Administration, 1933-1945" and "Howard University and the Federal Government During the Presidential Administrations of Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1928-1945" are heavily cited by historians and academics.[6]
In 1995, he co-authored Howard in Retrospect: Images of the Capstone, a history of Howard University, with Thomas Battle.[4]
^Hankins, Rebecca (August 3, 2016). "Archivists and Archives of Color Roundtable (AACR) History". Archivists and Archives of Color Newsletter – via Society of American Archivists.
^Muse, Clifford L. "Howard University and U.S. Foreign Affairs during the Franklin D. Roosevelt Administration, 1933-1945." The Journal of African American History, vol. 87, 2002, pp. 403–415. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1562473.