FRED G. CLARK PAPERS

Herbert Hoover Presidential Library

West Branch, Iowa

The Fred G. Clark Papers consist of approximately 8 linear feet of correspondence, publications, and photographs that document the activities of the American Educational Foundation, as well as other facets of the life of businessman and educator Clark (1890-1973), including his long friendship with Herbert Hoover. Clark’s family donated this collection in 1991.

Biography

Fred George Clark was born in Cleveland, Ohio on November 2, 1890. His parents had immigrated to Ohio from Canada in 1882, and Clark’s father, Frederick G. Clark, had established an oil refining and marketing company in Cleveland. By the age of 13, both of Clark’s parents had died. He attended school in Asheville, North Carolina before returning to Cleveland and completing his schooling at the University School in 1909. From there, he enrolled at Kenyon College. Although he was active in the student life at that campus, he left without graduating in 1913.

That same year, Clark went to work as an oil tester for his late father’s firm, the Fred G. Clark Company. Clark rose quickly within the company, becoming office manager in 1914, salesman in 1916, and vice-president in 1920. He also served in the Army during World War I, commissioned as a captain and assigned to purchase lubricating oil for the Army.

In 1924 he became president of the Fred G. Clark Company, and two years later became president of an additional company, the Conewango Refining Company in Pennsylvania. Clark continued working in the oil industry until 1932, when he established the insurance firm of Clark, Curtin and Norton in New York. Clark initially served as president of this company, and remained associated with it until 1965.

During these same years, Clark developed an interest in Prohibition, and he established an organization known as The Crusaders, which was dedicated to repealing the 18^th Amendment and legalizing the production and sale of alcoholic beverages. He was the national commander of The Crusaders, with headquarters in Cleveland. After the repeal of prohibition in 1933, The Crusaders remained active in politics, attacking various New Deal policies throughout the 1930s. In order to spread their views more widely, Clark created a radio program, The Voice of the Crusaders, which was broadcast until 1937.

In 1939, Clark established a new organization with which he would remain affiliated for the remainder of his life. During the campaign to end prohibition, Clark became convinced that many Americans suffered from “economic illiteracy,” and that some program needed to be created which could “simplify economics for the masses.” To this end he founded the American Economic Foundation, of which he was general chairman, a post that he held until a month before his death in 1973.

A staunch advocate of the free market and “uncontrolled economy,” Clark believed that many conflicts between labor and management were the result of economic misunderstandings and “semantic squabbles.” One of his group’s earliest activities was a “unity” campaign among labor representatives in northeast Ohio, in which he sought to emphasize the shared interests of labor and management in fostering industrial production.

To reach a wider audience, Clark and his associates turned to the print and broadcast media. Clark moderated a radio program on the NBC Blue Network, Wake Up, America!, which ran from 1940-1946. The format consisted of a panel of experts who debated various economic and political issues of the day, and was usually comprised of academics, journalists, politicians, and business leaders. Included among the guests were such names as Max Lerner, Ruth Alexander, George Sokolsky, Arthur Garfield Hays, Henry Hazlitt, Norman Thomas, Senator Robert A. Taft, and former President Herbert Hoover.

Hoover in particular, who shared Clark’s economic views, developed a close friendship with Clark, and invited him to be a frequent guest at the annual “encampments” of the Bohemian Club in Northern California (held at a location known as “Bohemian Grove”). Yet even those panelists who disagreed with Clark’s views often respected his program and his organization. Socialist Norman Thomas stated years later that although he was “in ideological disagreement with a great many things that the Foundation says,” he thought that it was “doing an educational work from its own point of view and an educational work of value.”

In addition to his radio work, Clark also collaborated on several books with Richard Stanton Rimanoczy, the educational director of the foundation. These titles included How We Live (1944), Money (1947), and How to Be Popular, Though Conservative (1948). Clark also wrote editorial columns and articles for many magazines and newspapers, and the Foundation also produced and distributed motion pictures as well as sponsored a “Hall of Enterprise” at the World’s Fair in New York in 1964-1965.

In addition to his activities as chairman of the Foundation, Clark also pursued photography as a hobby, practicing his craft frequently at the annual Bohemian Club meetings. Herbert Hoover referred to Clark as “not only my good friend but my best photographer.” Many examples of Clark’s photography are included in this collection of papers.

Fred Clark died at his home in New York City on January 7, 1973.

Scope and content

The Fred G. Clark Papers consist of approximately 8 linear feet of correspondence, manuscripts, publications, and photographs, divided into three series.

· American Economic Foundation (ca. 3 linear feet): Contains primarily general business correspondence about this organization, from 1939-1978, yet also includes files on The Crusaders dating from 1930-1937. Also contains correspondence to and from Clark’s widow, Diana Grafmueller, who remained active in the Foundation in the years after his death. In addition to general correspondence, files and scripts related to Wake Up, America! as well as plans for the Hall of Enterprise can be found in this series.

· Name and Subject Series (ca. 2.5 linear feet): Correspondence largely arranged by individual names. Significant correspondents include Herbert Hoover, Herbert Hoover, Jr., Allan Hoover, Richard Nixon, Barry Goldwater, Thomas Dewey, DeWitt Wallace, and A.C. Wedemeyer.

· Fred G. Clark: Largely consists of copies of his published books, manuscripts of his speeches, and clippings files. Also included are his photographs, primarily of activities at the annual encampments at Bohemian Grove, but also of participants in his broadcasts of Wake Up, America!

Fred G. Clark Papers

Box and Folder Inventory

BOX CONTENTS

American Economic Foundation

Business

“Better America” Editorials, 1954

Bureau of Economic Research, “A Study of Receipts”, 1915-44

Charts, Undated

Citizens Foreign Aid Committee, 1962-67

Clark, Diana Grafmueller, 1973-83

Dahlberg, Arthur O.

Correspondence, 1969-77

“Money in Motion,” Book, 1962

“Economic Facts of Life,” Editorials

1948-51

1952-58

1959-64

1965-69

1970-74

Undated

Educational Concerns

1949-53

1963-68

Educational Programs, 1965-72, Undated

Endorsements, 1947-66, Undated

Films, Slides, Scripts, Undated

“Handbook of Accepted Economics,” 1941

History And Information About, 1940-54, Undated

“How We Live In America,” Film script

Miscellaneous

1938-69, Undated

1970-75

Pamphlets, 1944-71

National Schools Committee, 1965

Publications, 1964, Undated

Services Available, 1939-65

Tax Exempt Status, 1939-40

Speeches By Others, 1955-67, Undated

“Ten Pillars Of Economic Wisdom,” 1966

The Crusaders

Correspondence, 1930-39

Organization, 1930-39

Radio Broadcasts, 1935-36

Sheet Music, 1935

Report Concerning Prohibition, Undated, 2 Copies

Hall of Free Enterprise, World’s Fair

Correspondence, Clippings, Announcements

A-B, 1962-65

C, 1962-65

Folder 1

Folder 2

D, 1962-65

K-N, 1962-65

O-T, 1962-65

U-W, 1962-65

X-Z, 1962-65

Economic Workshop, 1963-65

General, 1964-65

Information Kit, 1964

Pamphlets, 1963-65

Folder 1

Folder 2

Preparation for, 1963-64

Steering Committee, 1963-64

Liberty Village

Correspondence, 1976-77

Grant Requests, 1977-78

Orientation Film, 1977-78

Program, 1977-78

“Wake Up America,” Radio Show

1940-46

Scripts, 1942-47