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Scrapbook and photographs, 1870-1938

Manuscript Collection 792

• Information about Clyde Nuell Clarke
• Information about the Collection
• Contents of the Collection

INFORMATION ABOUT CLYDE NUELL CLARKE

Clyde Nuell Clarke (1886-1945) was a northeast Arkansas businessman.  Around 1900 he was part owner of a soda fountain in Osceola (Mississippi County), and later represented the Singer Sewing Machine Company (1902-1904), the soap division of the Swift Packing Company, and B. F. Goodrich.  He was also a lieutenant, later a captain, in the Arkansas State Guard, serving 1916-1917 at Ft. Deming, New Mexico.  He married Minnie Ross of Newport in 1905.  A daughter, Grace, was born in 1907 and the donor was born in 1909.  Minnie Ross Clarke died in 1910, and Clarke remarried in 1916.  His second wife, Joe Etta Lee, died in 1950.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE COLLECTION

The scrapbook contains clippings (including Singer Sewing Machine newspaper advertisements), business cards, a railroad pass, a ticket to the Democratic National Convention (1904), and photographs (especially of Company M, First Infantry, Arkansas State Guard).  Many clippings and papers were laid in the scrapbook; these were removed to separate storage and the clippings were photocopied on acid-neutral paper for preservation.

The photographs are mainly of the family, including many of the Ross family taken by Clarke's father-in-law, H. W. D. Ross, and views of Jonesboro (Craighead County) taken by Clyde Nuell Clarke.

A scrapbook and photographs pertaining to her father, Clyde Nuell Clarke, were donated to Special Collections by Nelle Clarke Cooke, Rogers, Arkansas, June 1987.
 
The material was collected by the donor's father, Clyde Nuell Clarke, and pertains to him and his family, including his father-in-law, H. Winchester D. Ross, a traveling photographer in northeast Arkansas in the late 1800s.

Processed by Nan Lawler, Special Collections Division, University of Arkansas Libraries, Fayetteville, Arkansas, in February 1992.

CONTENTS OF THE COLLECTION
65 items (1 container)

Box 1

 1. Scrapbook, dated 1905 on the cover, but containing items from 1902-[1910].
 2. Clippings originally laid in scrapbook, [1902]-1930.
 3. Other papers originally laid in scrapbook, including menu and menu card from the soda fountain of G. A. Chase & Co., [Osceola], ca. 1900; an announcement of the marriage of Joe Etta Lee and Clyde Nuell Clarke, 1916; a silk scarf originally with the announcement, an unidentified lock of hair; and a program for Senior (high school) Class Night, [Jonesboro], 1925.
 4. Other papers, some originally with photographs.
 5. Images 1-17.  Photographs of Clyde Nuell Clarke:  portraits, with others, informal portraits, and activities, ca. 1886-1917.  Images 10 and 17 are in Manuscript Collections Oversize Box 9.
 6. Images 18-22.  Minnie Ross, including group of classmates from Marianna High School, ca. 1900 (Image 22 was originally with marriage announcement laid in scrapbook, and may in fact be of Joe Etta Lee).
 7. Images 23-33.  Minnie and Clyde Clarke, their friends and children, ca. 1900-1920.
 8. Images 34-40.  [H. W. D. Ross] and his wife and children, photographs by H. W. D. Ross, ca. 1890.
 9. Images 41-49.  The Sparks and other relatives of Clyde Clarke, ca. 1870-1938.
 10. Images 50-54.  Scenes of Jonesboro, ca. 1900, some photographed by Clyde Clarke (Image 53 was originally with miniature cards in Folder 4; Image 54 was originally laid in scrapbook).