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Papers of J. Calvitt Clarke, Accession #13712, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.
The collection was purchased from Crown Collectibles by the University of Virginia Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library on September 8, 2006.
Dr. J. Calvitt Clarke [1887-1970] and his wife, Helen Clarke [1890?-1967] started the Christian Children's Fund in Richmond, Virginia in [1938] when they only had a modest income for their own family. Dr. Clarke who grew up in Brooklyn, New York, attended Denison University in Ohio, and a theological seminary in Pittsburgh where he was trained as a [Presbyterian] minister. He worked at the Save the Children Federation, assisted Helen Keller, worked as a minister and interpreter to stranded Russian troops in France for the Young Men's Christian Association, (Y.M.C.A.) was the Director of the Near East Relief Organization, and the National Secretary for the Golden Rule Foundation. After witnessing the displacement of millions of children, particularly in China from the [Second] Sino-Japanese War, he founded and became the International Director of the Children's China Fund (later named the Christian Children's Fund) which helped feed and house children.
In 1965, twenty five years after Dr. Clarke and his wife started the Christian Children's Fund, their foundation reached five million dollars and was helping thirty-six thousand children in fifty countries. The Board of Directors claimed that there were complaints about Dr. Clarke from former employees, board members, and from an author named John Caldwell (who had formerly praised the Clarke's work in his book, "Children of Calamity. ") The Board of Directors forced Dr. Clarke to retire and also "fired" Helen Clarke from the very foundation that the minister and his family had brought to fruition through years of hard work. According to the Clarke's correspondence, the new director, Verbon E. Kemp along with the Board of Directors forced the Clarke's to leave the company and created highly paid positions for the friends and family of the Kemp's. Dr. Clarke wrote that the new directors travelled around the world, built houses and offices with the Christian's Children Fund's finances. The correspondence alleges that the new management of the Christian's Children Fund was changing into a coldly operated business that no longer offered the caring compassion that the family had known.
Dr. Clarke, at the age of seventy six, started a new foundation called Children Incorporated with the help of his daughter, Jeanne Clarke Wood. Children Incorporated fulfilled promises that Dr. Clarke had made to help children in Guatemala and offered another resource for colleagues and friends who were unhappy with the new management and practices of the Christian Children's Fund. Children Incorporated had one hundred children in 1965, and today in 2008, it is a successful foundation helping over sixteen thousand children.
Dr. Clarke was recognized and decorated by three foreign governments when he was awarded the Order of the Brilliant Star by the Nationalist Government of China, the Order of the Sacred Treasure by Japan, and the Order of Merit by the Republic of Korea.
Dr. and Mrs. J. Calvitt Clarke, Jr., and their two children, Jeanne Clarke Wood [1916-2006] and Richard Calvitt Clarke Jr., "Bus" [1920-2004] worked together as a team in the Christian Children's Fund. Dr. Clarke was the director and the writer for their publications. Helen Clarke was the organizer and correspondent. She was also recognized in the Who's Who of American Women . Jeanne Clarke Wood and her husband, Herman E. "Jack" Wood were the photographers and her brother Richard Calvitt Clarke, Jr. "Bus" was the attorney. Jeanne Clarke Wood was also the President of Children Incorporated.
Jeanne Clarke Wood's husband, Herman E. "Jack" Wood was a medical photographer at the University of Georgia. Their marriage suffered a significant strain in 1949 and they separated for several months while "Jack" Wood regained his confidence and financial footing. Jeanne moved in with her parents and after a few months she was able to return to her marriage, which lasted until Jack's murder while making a bank deposit, January 15, 1971. They had two children, Helen and Jackson Wood. The Clarke and Wood families were extremely close and wrote each other weekly, and sometimes daily. They used nicknames often and Dr. J. Calvitt Clarke was "Champ," "Big Champ" or "Popsickle," Helen Clarke was "Champy," "Big Champy," or "Mopsickle."
This collection consists of the papers of two organizations, the Christian Children's Fund from 1938 to 1965, and Children Incorporated from 1964 to 1970 which were founded by Dr. J. Calvitt Clarke, his wife, Helen Clarke, and daughter, Jeanne Clarke Wood. It contains annual reports and budget information, board meeting minutes, correspondence, management and employee grievances, news clippings, photographs, and literature from the two organizations.
The collection also includes the personal and financial information of the Clarke's, an extraordinary family who dedicated their lives to the Christian Children's Fund and Children Incorporated. These foundations provided opportunities to sponsor and adopt orphaned and needy children from around the world. The collection spans from 1918 to 1970 in Richmond, Virginia, where the Clarke family lived, and Augusta, South Carolina where their daughter Jeanne Clarke Wood and her family lived, and Hong Kong, China where the headquarters for the Christian Children's Fund was located.
There are also original literary manuscripts written by Dr. J. Calvitt Clarke and his daughter Jeanne Clarke Wood. Dr. Clarke and his daughter were both fiction authors. Jeanne Clarke Wood had several manuscripts rejected from publishers but was published in literary magazines. There are also letters, news clippings and photographs from Edison Tesla Marshall, (1894-1967), an American author of adventure and historical fiction.
Other correspondents include Margaret Sanger, (1879-1966) founder of Planned Parenthood, and an advocate of negative eugenics; Edmund W. Janss, author of "Yankee Si, " the story of J. Calvitt Clarke; Kuruville C. Abraham, a former orphan of the Christian Children's Fund; Park Chung-Hee, Leader of the Republic of Korea (who sent a Christmas Card); and Fumihiko Togo, who sent an invitation to Dr. Clarke to attend Emperor Hirohito's birthday party.
There is also information on the [North] Augusta Philomathic Society (which was the first Women's Club in Augusta, South Carolina in 1895) and the Augusta Library Council in South Carolina. The collection contains about 2, 402 items, thirteen Hollinger boxes, and six linear feet.
The collection is organized into two series. Series I consists of materials about the Christian Children's Fund, Children Incorporated and the Clarke and Wood Families. Series II contains literary manuscripts and is further divided into Subseries A: Manuscripts by Dr. J. Clarke and Subseries B: Manuscripts by Jeanne Clarke Wood. The folders are organized alphabetically by topic and chronologically within each folder.
Mr. Abraham was an orphan who was sponsored through the Christian's Children Fund and was well-educated. He received a Masters degree in agriculture and wanted to continue his education. Through correspondence with Mrs. Helen Clarke and her contacts he eventually was able to come to the United States where he obtained his PhD.
The Christmas Cards are mostly from orphanages in China, Japan, Korea, India, France, Germany, South America, the Carribean Islands and America.
Included is a Christmas Card from Park Chung-Hee, the Leader of the Republic of Korea from 1961 to 1979. There are also calling cards, and photographs.
Christmas Cards were hand-made by the orphans.
Mr. McCahon, the Executive Director of the International Cooperation Administration corresponded with Dr. Clarke about John C. Caldwell's allegations of an incompetent adminstration in the Hong Kong branch of the Christian Children's Fund.
Reverend Verent J. Mills was the Director of Operations in [Korea] for the Christian Children's Fund and worked closely with Dr. Clarke.
Included is a letter from Kuruville C. Abraham to the Clarke's and a history of the Christian Children's Fund as well as Dr. and Mrs. Clarke's letters and notes describing their experience of being ousted from the CCF.
Included is a Chinese Language guide, an airline receipt, a floor plan for Eugene Talmadge Memorial Hospital and a scarf.
Included is a news clipping about the opening of Dr. Clarke's new operation, Children Inc. and correspondence about Indian schools (Le Sabre Indian School and Navajo Mission School of Seventh-Day Adventists) in Arizona.
Dr. Clarke wrote to his wife about accepting a job interpreting for Russian troops in France during World War I.
General correspondence.
General correspondence.
General correspondence.
Sympathy cards for her death. Includes a letter of condolence from Mr. William B. Thalhimer.
Sympathy cards from flower arrangements.
Included are political brochures and news clipping about his judgeship.
Included is a letter from Dr. Clarke asking for a new position.
Included is legal information about Clara Mattson's estate.
Included is information about the John F. Kennedy Fan Club, the John F. Kennedy Retirement Fund, an article on Juke Boxes, and a war ration book.
There is information about artists, Takeaki Tsukuda; Kiyokata Kaburagi, and Francis Tsoy.
Included is a news clipping about Methodist minister, Edmund Yanss and his book, Yankee Si .
There are articles about [Kennedy] and the Youth Peace Corps; Tom Mboya; Macao bargains; an editorial in the London Times about President Truman (1953), and articles by Homes Alexander and Robert B. Greenblatt.
Richmond News Leader , July 14, 1964; The Korea Republic , March 15, 1962, Volume 9 Number 188; The Korea Herald , October 31, 1971, Volume 19, Number 67; and a Korean newspaper.
Included are brass engraving plates, (for Dr. J. Calvitt Clarke, Jr. when he worked for the Near East Far Relief Organization) and letters regarding his decorations from the governments of Korea, China and Japan. There is also a certificate for Mrs. Clarke who was included in Who's Who of American Women . Also of note is an invitation from the Emperor Hirohito of Japan and the Ambassador of Japan, Mr. Fumihiko Togo and his wife for Dr. Clarke to attend the Emperor's birthday party [1954 April 29].
Included are correspondence, minutes, schedules, brochures, and news clippings.
Included are brochures and directories from the schools that Helen, granddaughter of J. Calvitt Clarke, Jr. attended such as, The University of South Carolina, St. Anne's School, and North Augusta Senior High School including a student and faculty directory, a newsletter, Greenway Grapevine (December 12, 1949), a commencement program, and a student grade report. There are also news clippings about winning contests and her engagement announcement (Helen Hamilton Wood to Mr. John Harry Mortenson); a poem by her mother, Jeanne Clarke Wood, titled, "letter to Dorothy"; and information about a Frances Hester concert at the Appleby Branch Library Garden.
Included are medical association pin; brochures and programs for medical seminars; Medical College of Georgia proceedings and class roll; photographer's association constitution, and membership card.
Included are documents from their lawsuit against the power company, Herman Eugene Wood, Jr. vs. South Carolina Electric and Gas Company, the State of South Carolina, County of Aiken; a deposit slip from the National Exchange Bank of Augusta; a two hundred dollar note for the Smith Lumber Company signed by Herman E. "Jack" Wood, Jr. and Helen J. Wood; and a State of South Carolina Title to Real Estate from Herman E. "Jack" Wood, Jr. to Helen J. Wood. There is also a letter from H. E. Wood, Jr. to Aiken County Auditor re: House assessment and tax returns; a letter from H. E. Wood, Jr. to Aiken County Tax Collector re: Tax return on the house.
Included are a publisher's agreement and a critique from Jeanne Wood Clarke.
Includes research notes.
Included are letters relating to "The Bed of Narcissus. "
Paper for the Philomathic Society.
Also incuded is a letter from J. Calvitt Clarke, and news clippings.
Paper for the Philomathic Society.
Included is correspondence on the elements of writing.
Included is correspondence with Elmer and Caroline about editorial advice.
Paper for the Philomathic Society.