Thomas D. Clark

Thomas Dionysius Clark (July 14, 1903 – June 28, 2005) was an American historian. Clark saved from destruction a large portion of Kentucky's printed history, which later became a core body of documents in the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives. Often referred to as the "Dean of Historians" Clark is best known for his 1937 work, A History of Kentucky. Clark was named Historian Laureate of the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1991.

Early years Born in Louisville, Mississippi, to a cotton farmer and a schoolteacher, Thomas Clark received his primary education in a neighborhood school to the third grade. After that he made it only to the seventh grade at his mother's school. He dropped out of school to work at a sawmill and as many southern boys did in those days, helped out on the family farm. At sixteen, he took a job on a dredge boat that scoured the bed of the Pearl River. His mother urged him to get back in school.

In an interview, Clark recalled:

I left the boat in September 1920. Without a job. Without a future, really. I accidentally met a boy who told me about an agricultural high school Choctaw County Agricultural High School. I went down and within 10 minutes of getting off the train I'd registered. The old superintendent didn't ask me one thing about my education. He didn't know if I could read or write. Said you look like a big stout boy. You look like you'd make a good football player. So I was admitted as a football player. I went to that school for four years [and obtained] reasonably basic preparation.

University of Mississippi Clark had decided that farming, manual labor and river work were not going to meet his needs. At the urging of his parents, he entered the University of Mississippi in September 1925. While there, he met his first mentor, historian Charles S. Sydnor, who held a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University. Even though Clark had but one class under Sydnor, British history, which wasn't even within his interests, the two had "deep conversations" about the rich heritage of the old South. Sydnor encouraged Clark to follow his interests into post graduate studies in the field of History.

It was at Ole Miss that Clark discovered the significance of his birthday and understood for the first time what Bastille Day was about. Clark "fell in love with learning" at that time, improved his use of the English language and began to develop writing and study habits that framed the disciplines through which he was to accomplish great things later in his life.

Clark had financed his education at Ole Miss with a cotton crop on land his father had given him but before he graduated the funds had all but run out. He then found a golf course that needed tending and took the job. It turned out that budding writer, William Faulkner, also having a hard time with finances, helped Clark tend the golf course. Clark was later quite surprised to see that Faulkner had "hit the bigtime" with his writing. He graduated with honors earning a BA in 1928.

University of Kentucky Clark, through his new-found interest in history had begun attending meetings of the American Historical Association (AHA). It was there that Clark claims to have been exposed to the profession of the historian through two major personalities he saw at the AHA meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana (December 1928): Ulrich Phillips - with Slavery: The Central Theme of Southern History James Breasted - with The New Crusade, Upon hearing the presentations Clark recalls, " I came home thoroughly convinced I wanted to be a historian."

Receiving scholarships to both the University of Cincinnati and to the University of Kentucky, he chose the latter. Clark went on to receive his master's degree in history but when he would go further, the financial dilemma struck again. At the last minute, he was offered a fellowship at Duke.

Duke University

Professional Life, Post-Retirement Clark remained an active member of the American Historical Association and spoke on countless occasions in many venues both academic and non-academic. In 1968, Clark was named Sesquicentennial Professor of History at Indiana University in 1968, and Distinguished Service Professor, 1968–1973.

Working with Indiana University Chancellor Herman B Wells, Clark was instrumental in moving the business office of the Organization of American Historians to the Indiana University campus in Bloomington from Salt Lake City in 1970.

He was a proponent of the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1991. He lived to see the dedication and opening of the Kentucky History Center in Frankfort in April 1999. The center was renamed after Clark in 2005 as the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History. Clark died on June 28, 2005, at the age of 101.

Timeline 1903 - Born in Mississippi on July 14, 1903 1919 - 1920 worked a 'dead end' job on a dredge boat 1920 - 1924 attended Choctaw County Agricultural High School 1925 - 1928 University of Mississippi 1928 - 1929 Graduate work at University of Kentucky 1929 - 1931 Fellowship at Duke before it was Duke University 1931 - 2001 70-year tenure at the University of Kentucky 1933 - first book published - The Beginning of the L&N (railroad) - married Martha Turner 1935 - rescues precious historical documents from destruction at Frankfort 1937 - published most famous work, A History of Kentucky 1957 - becomes first chair of the new Kentucky Archives Commission 1982 - pushes through Department for Libraries and Archives 1986 - helps establish Friends of Kentucky Public Archives, Inc. 1990 - Kentucky General Assembly names Clark - Kentucky's Historian Laureate for life 1992 - The Kentucky Encyclopedia published in which Clark was a "driving force" 1994 - Mississippi Historical Society's - B.L.C. Wailes Award 1999 - Kentucky History Center dedicated in April - Frankfort, Kentucky 2001 - Vic Hellard Jr. Award - November 14 - Kentucky Long-Term Policy Research Center 2005 - on June 28 Dr. Clark dies at the age of 101.