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George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center
Fenwick Library, MS2FL4400 University Dr.
Fairfax, Virginia 22030
Business Number: 703-993-2220
Fax Number: 703-993-8911
speccoll@gmu.edu
URL: https://scrc.gmu.edu
Finding aid prepared by Brittney Falter
Administrative Information
Use Restrictions
There are no restrictions on personal use. Permission to publish material from the Robert Clark Papers must be obtained from the Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.
Access Restrictions
There are no access restrictions.
Preferred Citation
Robert Clark Papers, #C0292, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.
Acquisition Information
Donated by Douglas and Sandra First on October 7, 2016.
Processing Information
Processing completed by Brittney Falter in November 2016. EAD markup completed by Brittney Falter in December 2016.
Biographical Information
Robert (Bob) Clark was born in May 1922 in Omaha, Nebraska. He received a B.S. and M.A. while studying journalism and politics. He went on to become a Washington and White House correspondent for ABC News throughout the 1950s and 1970s, but continued to work for ABC until the 1990s. Most notably, he covered the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy. He was a witness to both assassinations. Later in his life, around the 1990s, he was a guest commentator on C-SPAN. Bob Clark passed away in December 2015.
Scope and Content
Series 1: JFK assassination, 1959-2005 contains articles and on-air drafts regarding the JFK assassination and the 25th anniversary of the event. There are reports of the assassination by the Review Board, autopsy reports, investigative reports, statements, and assassination theories. Included is also a binder filled with articles and reports about Kennedy's campaign and the election coverage for ABC News.
Series 2: Politics, 1950s-2004 contains articles, correspondence and on-air drafts about politicians. These include Kennedy family members, Eisenhower, Reagan, Nixon, George H.W.Bush, Billy Graham, and others.
Series 3: Foreign relations, 1965-1999 has articles and on-air drafts on topics such as Iran-Contra, relations with Cuba, Japan, Israel, Korea, India, Soviet Union, Africa and Pakistan.
Series 4: Domestic issues, 1948-1999 has articles and commentary on domestic issues such as women's rights, Medicare, religion, homosexuality, and social security.
Series 5: Personal files: 1940s-1989 has some papers written by Clark while he was a student in the 1940s as well as other materials from his life, a duplicate manuscript, and his personal correspondence.
Series 6: ABC files, 1957-1993 contains most of the drafts Clark wrote for ABC that cover a variety of topics. This series has press messages and articles, drafts from on-air commentary for ABC from the 1960s to the 1990s, perspectives written for ABC, "Issues and Answers" for ABC, negative images of the White House from 1956, radio scripts, drafts from C-SPAN shows (1990s), and interviews.
Arrangement
Organized into six series by subject. Doug First arranged the materials before donating them to SCRC.
Missing Title Series 1: JFK assassination, 1959-2005 (Boxes 1-4) Series 2: Politics, 1950s-2004 (Boxes 5-9) Series 3: Foreign relations, 1965-1999 (Box 9) Series 4: Domestic issues, 1948-1999 (Box 10) Series 5: Personal files, 1940s-1989 (Box 10) Series 6: ABC files, 1957-1993 (Boxes 11-19)Related Material
Special Collections Research Center also holds many other collections on 20th century political history.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
- Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969
- Journalism -- United States
- Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963
- Kennedy, Robert F., 1925-1968
- Presidents -- United States
- Reagan, Ronald
Significant Persons Associated With the Collection
- Clark, Robert, 1922-2015
- Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969
- Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963
- Kennedy, Robert F., 1925-1968
- Reagan, Ronald
Container List
This series contains articles and on-air drafts regarding the JFK assassination and the 25th anniversary of the event.
- Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 1
Log of ABC News Nov.22-25, 19631963Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 2
JFK 25th Anniversary 1 of 21960-2003Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 3
JFK 25th Anniversary 1 of 21963-2001Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 4
JFK Assassination Investigation1962-1998Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 5
JFK Assassination1964-1999Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 6
JFK Articles1959-1996Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 1 folder: 7
JFK Assassination Articles1961-1996Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 2 folder: 1
JFK Assassination Review Board 1 of 31978-1997Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 2 folder: 2
JFK Assassination Review Board 2 of 31996-1998Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 2 folder: 3
JFK Assassination Review Board 3 of 31996Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 2 folder: 4
JFK Assassination, Cuba 1 of 21963-1998Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 2 folder: 5
JFK Assassination, Cuba 2 of 21979Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 3 folder: 1
JFK Investigation of Assassination, Exhibits V.1- V.3 1 of 21963Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 3 folder: 2
JFK Investigation of Assassination, Supplemental Report 2 of 21963Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 3 folder: 3
JFK Miscellaneous1988-2005Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 3 folder: 4
JFK Assassination, Theories, Articles and Reports1978-2001Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 3 folder: 5
JFK Assassination, Review Board to Bob Clark1964-1999Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 3 folder: 6
Assassination Records Review Board 1 of 31962-2003Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 3 folder: 7
Assassination Records Review Board 2 of 31957-2003Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 3 folder: 8
Assassination Records Review Board 3 of 31962-1996Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 4 folder: 1
RFK Election Night 19641960sScope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 4 folder: 2
Press Tags, Kennedy Campaign1964Scope and Contents note
This series contains articles, correspondence and on-air drafts about politicians. These include Kennedy family members, Eisenhower, Reagan, Nixon, George H.W.Bush, Billy Graham, and others.
- Mixed Materials box: 5 folder: 1
Ted and Robert F. Kennedy1968-2004Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 5 folder: 2
Robert Kennedy1965-1998Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 5 folder: 3
Ted Kennedy1962-1990Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 5 folder: 4
Kennedy, Chappaquiddick1969-1980Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 5 folder: 5
Articles - Joe Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy1969-1970sScope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 6 folder: 1
Eisenhower "Fact Sheet"1969Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 6 folder: 2
Eisenhower File for TV Special1950s-1960sScope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 6 folder: 3
Eisenhower 1 of 21950s-1960sScope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 6 folder: 4
Eisenhower 2 of 21950s-1960sScope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 6 folder: 5
Eisenhower, Articles1968-1970, 1979Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 7 folder: 1
Eisenhower and Illnesscirca 1950sScope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 7 folder: 2
Life and Funeral of Eisenhower1969-1980Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 7 folder: 3
Profiles of Presidential Candidates and Results, Articles1990-1992Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 7 folder: 4
Assassination Attempts on Presidents1975-1982Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 7 folder: 5
Bush, Iran (Called 5-1-85)1977-1994Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 7 folder: 6
Bush, White House Campaign1987-1991Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 7 folder: 7
H.W. Bush Administration 1 of 31989-1995Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 7 folder: 8
H.W. Bush Administration 2 of 31987-1992Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 7 folder: 9
H.W. Bush Administration 3 of 31988-1992Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 7 folder: 10
Nixon, Articles and Documents1971-1999Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 7 folder: 11
Reagan1984-1999Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 7 folder: 12
Hank Duelcirca 1980sScope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 7 folder: 13
William Buckley1986-1989Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 7 folder: 14
Memoirs of an American Communist Lawyercirca 1993Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 8 folder: 1
Ford Library, Conversations with Billy Graham1975-1976Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 8 folder: 2
Billy Graham - Correspondence and Names1991-1993Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 8 folder: 3
Billy Graham - Correspondence1977-1980, 1991Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 8 folder: 4
Billy Graham1975-1995Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 8 folder: 5
Billy Graham 1 of 21990-1992Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 8 folder: 6
Billy Graham 2 of 21979-1991Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 8 folder: 7
Wendell Willkie1992-1993Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 8 folder: 8
Supreme Court1987-1999, 1979, 1960Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 8 folder: 9
Supreme Court Confirmation1986-1994Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 9 folder: 1
Politics - Past Years1988-1998Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 9 folder: 2
Politics - 2000, Articles1996,1999Scope and Contents note
This series has articles and on-air drafts on topics such as Iran-Contra, relations with Cuba, Japan, Israel, Korea, India, Soviet Union, Africa and Pakistan.
- Mixed Materials box: 9 folder: 3
Pakistan1965-1969, 1988-1990Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 9 folder: 4
Terrorism - Foreign and Domestic1995-1996Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 9 folder: 5
White House - Articles1994, 1988Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 9 folder: 6
Africa, Articles1976-1996Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 9 folder: 7
Israeli Lobby (Called 5-2-85)1970s-1990sScope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 9 folder: 8
Miscellaneous1979-1992Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 9 folder: 9
India, Articles1991, 1995Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 9 folder: 10
Korea, Articles1975-1994Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 9 folder: 11
Japan1970s-1995Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 9 folder: 12
Soviet1987-1996Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 9 folder: 13
Iran Contra, Reports and Roundups1986-1994Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 9 folder: 14
Israel - News Articles and Reports1981-1999Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 9 folder: 15
Background Briefing on Cuban SituationOctober 22, 1962Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 9 folder: 16
Castro Memorandum1963Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 9 folder: 17
USS Indianapolis Testimonies1999Scope and Contents note
This series has articles and commentary on domestic issues such as women's rights, Medicare, religion, homosexuality, and social security.
- Mixed Materials box: 10 folder: 1
Annotated Article About World War IIUnknownScope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 10 folder: 2
Women's Rights - Commentary ABC1975Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 10 folder: 3
Social Security1987-1999Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 10 folder: 4
Homosexuals (Including Military)1990-1994Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 10 folder: 5
Religion 1 of 21980-1985Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 10 folder: 6
Religion 2 of 21990-1991Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 10 folder: 7
Medicare1999Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 10 folder: 8
Broadcasting and Press1987-1998Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 10 folder: 9
Articles1948, 1950sScope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 10 folder: 10
"The VIP's" manuscript and article1980Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 10 folder: 11
"Not Called"1970s-1980sScope and Contents note
This series has some papers written by Clark while he was a student in the 1940s as well as other materials from his life, a duplicate manuscript, and his personal correspondence.
- Mixed Materials box: 10 folder: 12
School Assignments1940s, 1947Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 10 folder: 13
Duplicate Manuscript1985Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 10 folder: 14
Correspondence1948Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 10 folder: 15
Correspondence1988-1989Scope and Contents note
This series contains most of the drafts Clark wrote for ABC that cover a variety of topics.
- Mixed Materials box: 11 folder: 1
Press Message and Articlescirca 1957Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 11 folder: 2
Press Message and Articles 1 of 4circa 1956, 1969Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 11 folder: 3
Press Message and Articles 2 of 4circa 1956Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 11 folder: 4
Press Message and Articles 3 of 4circa 1956Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 11 folder: 5
Press Message and Articles 4 of 4circa 1957Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 12 folder: 1
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC1963-1966, undatedScope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 12 folder: 2
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC1990,1988Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 12 folder: 3
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC 1 of 21992-1993Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 12 folder: 4
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC 2 of 21991Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 12 folder: 5
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC1991Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 12 folder: 6
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC1990Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 12 folder: 7
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC: Berlin, Saigon, Seoul1967, 1970Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 12 folder: 8
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC1988,1990,1993Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 12 folder: 9
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC 1 of 41961-1973Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 12 folder: 10
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC 2 of 41969-1973Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 12 folder: 11
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC 3 of 41969-1970Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 12 folder: 12
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC 4 of 41969-1970Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 12 folder: 13
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC1969Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 13 folder: 1
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC1960s-1970sScope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 13 folder: 2
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC1970sScope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 13 folder: 3
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC1979Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 13 folder: 4
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC1978Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 13 folder: 5
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC1975-1977Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 13 folder: 6
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC1979Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 13 folder: 7
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC1975-1979Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 13 folder: 8
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC1974-1976, 1986Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 13 folder: 9
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC1973-1974Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 13 folder: 10
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC1968, 1964Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 13 folder: 11
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC1966-1967Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 14 folder: 1
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC1982Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 14 folder: 2
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC 1 of 21981Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 14 folder: 3
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC 2 of 21981Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 14 folder: 4
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC1980Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 14 folder: 5
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC 1 of 21982-1984Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 14 folder: 6
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC 2 of 21983-1984Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 14 folder: 7
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC1982-1984Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 14 folder: 8
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC1982Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 14 folder: 9
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC 1 of 21981-1982Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 14 folder: 10
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC 2 of 21981-1982Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 15 folder: 1
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC 1 of 31987, 1989Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 15 folder: 2
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC 2 of 31987Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 15 folder: 3
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC 3 of 31981-1984Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 15 folder: 4
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC 1 of 21974, 1976-1978Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 15 folder: 5
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC 2 of 21970-1976Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 15 folder: 6
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC1980-1984Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 15 folder: 7
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC 1 of 21980Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 15 folder: 8
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC 2 of 21980Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 15 folder: 9
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC1979-1981Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 15 folder: 10
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC1987-1989, 1993-1995Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 16 folder: 1
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABC1982Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 16 folder: 2
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABCJuly-December 1981Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 16 folder: 3
Drafts On-Air Commentary ABCFebruary-June 1981Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 16 folder: 4
Perspectives1976-1979Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 16 folder: 5
Perspectives1974-1975Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 16 folder: 6
Perspectives1972-1973Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 16 folder: 7
Perspectives 1 of 31988-1993Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 16 folder: 8
Perspectives 2 of 31990-1991Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 16 folder: 9
Perspectives 3 of 31988-1989Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 17 folder: 1
Issues and Answers1976-1980Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 17 folder: 2
Issues and AnswersNovember 1960-April 1975Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 17 folder: 3
Issues and Answers 1 of 61975-1976Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 17 folder: 4
Issues and Answers 2 of 61974-1977Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 17 folder: 5
Issues and Answers 3 of 61978-1980Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 17 folder: 6
Issues and Answers 4 of 61979-1980Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 17 folder: 7
Issues and Answers 5 of 61976, 1978Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 17 folder: 8
Issues and Answers 6 of 61977-1978Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 17 folder: 9
Issues and Answers1979Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 17 folder: 10
Issues and Answers1974, 1979-1980Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 17 folder: 11
Negatives from White HouseJanuary 26, 1959Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 17 folder: 12
Radio Spots - CopiesApril 25 - July 25, 1989Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 17 folder: 13
C-SPAN Shows1990Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 18 folder: 1
Radio Scripts 1 of 31991, 1994Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 18 folder: 2
Radio Scripts 2 of 31990Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 18 folder: 3
Radio Scripts 3 of 31990Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 18 folder: 4
ABC Scripts (Perspectives, etc.)1972-1989Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 18 folder: 5
Radio Spots; Women's Rights SpotNovember 30, 1988-March 30, 1989; 1975Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 18 folder: 6
Scripts1983-1985Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 18 folder: 7
Clark SpotsJuly 27-December 5, 1989Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 18 folder: 8
ABC SpotsNovember 8, 1988Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 18 folder: 9
SpotsJuly 28-November 29, 1988Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 18 folder: 10
Original Radio Spots1987Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 19 folder: 1
Commentaries1978-1980Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 19 folder: 2
News one Scripts1987-1990Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 19 folder: 3
SpotsJanuary 14-March 11, 1988Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 19 folder: 4
SpotsMay 10-July 26, 1988Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 19 folder: 5
SpotsApril 25-July 25, 1989; July 27-December 5, 1989Scope and Contents note
- Mixed Materials box: 19 folder: 6
ABC Interviews; Issues and Answers1975-1982Scope and Contents note