By Anne Bahde
Title: J. C. Clark Papers, 1893-1967
Predominant Dates: 1911-1956
ID: MSS ClarkJC
Primary Creator: Clark, J. C. (Jesse Claude) (1881-1956)
Extent: 0.7 cubic feet. More info below.
Languages of Materials: English [eng], Chinese [chi]
Jesse Claude Clark, known throughout his life as J. C., was born in Iowa. He attended Oregon Agricultural College, graduating in 1904. J. C. was a deeply religious man, which was reflected in his life's work. After graduation from OAC, he became the Boy's Work Secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) in Boise, Idaho. Soon after, he joined the staff of the Young Men's Christian Association in Portland, Oregon. During his tenure in Portland, he established a boys' camp at Spirit Lake, and started and operated a home for working boys in the city.
He married Julia Fuller, a 1906 graduate of Oregon Agricultural College, in 1907. He was assigned to the Shanghai, China branch of the YMCA in 1911 as the Boy's Division Secretary, and he moved there with his young family, including children Winston, Richard, and Emogene. In Shanghai, he oversaw a rapidly expanding set of services for Chinese boys and families. In addition to conducting the first ever camp for boys in China in 1913, he planned a building complex for boys' activities, which was finished in 1915. His Division became the largest in the world in 1914. Later he also became responsible for the Industrial Service of the Shanghai YMCA, and founded a Model Village for industrial workers at Pootung. J. C. and his family spent 12 years in Shanghai, and in the 1920s Clark accepted an appointment as the World Brotherhood Secretary of the National Council of the YMCA in the United States.
Clark was elected to the honor society Phi Kappa Phi in 1928. Later, he became the General Secretary of the Seaman's Y in New York City. He retired from the YMCA in 1944, and became director of the American Baptist Assembly summer conference center in Green Lake, Wisconsin.
Julia died in 1951, and he retired completely. J. C. returned to Oregon in 1952 and married Ava Milam after a brief courtship. J. C. and Ava traveled around the world during their short time together. J. C. died on August 26, 1956 after a brief illness.
More Extent Information: 38 photographs; 2 boxes
Statement on Access: The collection is open for research.
Acquisition Note: These materials were separated from the Ava Milam Clark Papers in 2016. They were originally acquired through her estate in 1975.
Related Materials: The papers of J. C. Clark's wife, Ava Milam Clark, are also held in the Special Collections and Archives Research Center. The Edgar Raymond Shepard Letters also contain material about the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA).
Preferred Citation: J. C. Clark Papers (MSS ClarkJC), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.
Processing Information: This collection was fully processed in June 2016, and the Jesse C. and Ava Milam Clark Photographic Collection (P 152) was formally dissolved and integrated with this collection and the Ava Milam Clark Papers at that time.
Clark, J. C. (Jesse Claude) (1881-1956)
American Baptist Assembly (Green Lake, Wis.)
Boys--China.
China--Social conditions.
Church camps--Wisconsin.
Clark, J. C. (Jesse Claude), 1881-1956
National Council of the Young Men's Christian Associations of the United States of America.
Portland Young Men's Christian Association (Portland, Or.)
University History
Young Men's Christian Association of Boise.
Young Men's Christian Associations of China
Photographic prints.