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Joseph Lynn Clark Papers

 Collection
Identifier: MS 156

Scope and Contents

Correspondence, manuscripts, legal documents, financial records, pamphlets, teaching materials, sermons, photographs, and artifacts document the life and work of Joseph Lynn Clark and the Clark family from 1751-1969.  The first series, Race Relations, 1910-1967, contains correspondence related to the Texas Commission on Interracial Cooperation. Other material in the series includes pamphlets, book reviews, manuscripts, and assorted correspondence.  The second and largest series, Clark Family Papers, 1751; 1773-1781; 1841-1969, contains business, and family correspondence, legal documents, photographs and Clark's personal records. The third and final series, Subject Files, 1862-1974 includes teaching materials, lecture notes, and writings, from Clark's time at Sam Houston State College, and sermons and Disciples of Christ materials.  This series also contains research materials and drafts of Clark's books on Texas history.

Dates

  • 1751-1974; undated

Creator

Biographical note

Joseph Lynn Clark, teacher, administrator, and author, was born in Thorp Spring, Texas, on July 27, 1881, the son of Ella Blanche (Lee) and Randolph Clark and nephew of Addison Clark. During his undergraduate days at Texas Christian University, he played baseball and assisted in the organization of the Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association, the state's first intercollegiate sports organization. He graduated from TCU in 1906. From 1906 to 1909 he was an instructor in history and English at Add-Ran College and in 1909-10 an instructor at John Tarleton College (now Tarleton State University). He attended summer sessions at the University of Virginia in 1907 and at the University of California in 1915; he also did graduate work at Columbia University in 1917 and at the University of Texas in 1927-28 and 1932-33. He was married to Sallie Frances Chism on August 28, 1913. In 1910 Clark was named secretary to Harry F. Estill, president of Sam Houston Normal Institute (now Sam Houston State University), and was soon given the additional duties of registrar, purchasing agent, bookkeeper, and librarian. He taught history at Sam Houston and was named head of the history department there in 1916. He wrote two school textbooks, New History of Texas (1928) and The Story of Texas (1932); he also wrote, with Elton M. Scott, The Texas Gulf Coast (1955). His book Thank God We Made It!(1969) was an account of his family's role in higher education in Texas. Clark was one of the organizers and second president of the Texas College Classroom Teachers Association (later renamed the Texas Association of College Teachers). He was a longtime member, vice president, and fellow of the Texas State Historical Association. He was a cofounder and member of the Texas Commission on Interracial Cooperation, and it is possible that his was the first college course offered in Texas on race relations. Clark died in Houston on September 13, 1969, and was buried in Huntsville.

Extent

46.25 linear feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

In three series: Series I. Race Relations, 1910-1967; Series II. Clark Family Papers, 1751-1969; Series III. Subject files, 1862-1974.

Subjects

Record Groups

Related Names

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title
Guide to the Joseph Lynn Clark Papers
Author
Compiled by Lisa Peña
Date
April 2015
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the Archives and Special Collections, Mary Couts Burnett Library Repository

http://lib.tcu.edu/spcoll/
Contact:
TCU Box 298400
2800 S. University Drive
Fort Worth, Texas 76129-0001
Fort Worth Texas 76129
(817) 257-4566
(817) 257-7282 (Fax)

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