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 Collection
Identifier: R-MC 075

Crandon F. Clark Papers

Dates

  • 1945-2001
  • Majority of material found in (, Fall-Winter 1945)

Scope and Content Note

The materials in this collection date from 1945 to 2001, but the bulk of the documents date from the Fall-Winter of 1945, when Crandon F. Clark attended the Biarritz American University (BAU). The materials focusing on BAU include: a press release, an annotated map of the city/facilities, announcements for musical/theatrical productions held at BAU, 33 issues of the campus newspaper, the BAU Banner, photocopies of the school yearbook, the BAU Beacon (1945) and the March 1946 commencement program, original copies of the course catalog and faculty roster and a clipping from Yank magazine (September 1945) on BAU. Also included here is a photocopy of a 1998 Sud Ouest article on Clark's return to Biarritz, with an English translation. The collection also includes a guide to the collection crated by Clark in 2001, which includes more information on his time at BAU, and eight wartime publications. Most of the newspapers and magazines were published by the US Army, but civilian publications from the United States, France and Germany are also present.

Extent

0.4 Cubic Feet

1 manuscript boxes

Language of Materials

The collection contains records in English, French, and German.

Abstract

This collection consists of documents pertaining to Crandon F. Clark's studies at the Biarritz American University (BAU), an institution established by the US Army for the education of GIs during the occupation of Europe, in the Fall-Winter of 1945. The majority of items in this collection are newspapers or newspaper clippings, primarily US Army or BAU publications. Other items include course materials, a press release, a map of Biarritz, the BAU yearbook and commencement program, a 1998 article from Sud Ouest and a preliminary guide to the collection authored by Crandon F. Clark.

Biographical Sketch of Crandon F. Clark

Crandon Clark was born on September 18, 1921, and raised in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, where he lived with two brothers and a sister. Clark's father worked for Western Union, as did his grandfather and great-grandfather. His mother served in the Women's Army Corps during World War II. Clark attended high school at the Cheshire Academy in Cheshire, Connecticut.

Clark entered Rutgers College, Rutgers University, as a freshman in 1940. As an undergraduate, Clark played on the football and track teams, joined the Delta Kappa Epsilon (DKE) fraternity and served as an ROTC cadet. Clark met his wife, a New Jersey College for Women (now Douglass College) student, during a blind date to a Rutgers crew meet. His father's work relocated the Clarks to Washington, DC, during his sophomore year, which reclassified him as an out-of-state student. However, Dean Frazier Metzger and Coach Harvey Harman assisted Clark in securing an Upson Scholarship, which enabled him to return to Rutgers.

In June 1943, the Advanced ROTC class was ordered to active duty and sent to Fort McClellan, Alabama, for basic training. When Clark and fifty-two of his classmates arrived in Alabama, they were covered in soot from the train ride; they were greeted by a Sgt. Greenway from Georgia who declared, "I've never seen a blacker bunch of white men arrive at this camp than you fellows." Thus, this group became known as "the Black Fifty." Following basic, the Black Fifty returned to Rutgers as part of the Army Specialized Training Program; Clark then completed infantry officer's training at Fort Benning, Georgia, where he received his commission as a second lieutenant.

Clark served as a platoon commander with the 69th Infantry Division, first at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, and then, as strategic reserve in England before going into action shortly after the Battle of the Bulge. Engaging the Germans from the Siegfried Line campaign to V-E Day, Clark saw combat in the German towns of Landwehrhagen, Eilenburg, Leipzig, Ehrenbreitstein and Benterode. At the end of the war, Clark was placed in charge of a prisoner of war camp in Austria. While on occupation duty, Clark was able to study political science and economics at Biarritz American University in Biarritz, France; the credits he earned there allowed him to graduate in absentia from Rutgers with a degree in business administration.

After being discharged, Clark attended Harvard University on the GI Bill. He served as an adjunct faculty member at Rutgers in the marketing department over a fourteen-year period. He was an editor of the 69th Division History Book and the Class of 1944 Military History Book.

Arrangement Note

The collection is arranged into eighteen folders, housed in one manuscript box. The collection's arrangement reflects the original order and labeling schema employed by Crandon F. Clark. In some instances, such as the newspapers in Folders 5 and 6, the materials were rearranged into chronological order. In the interest of preservation, the publications originally located in Folder 8 (as labeled by Clark) were placed into separate files and arranged chronologically.

Related Collections

An Interview with Crandon F. Clark for the Rutgers Oral History Archives of World War II is available online: Interview with Crandon Clark

Rutgers University Class of 1944 Military History Book. New Brunswick, NJ: The Class of 1944 and the Rutgers University Alumni Association, 1994, available from Special Collections and University Archives, LD4750.R97 1994

Title
Guide to the Crandon F. Clark Papers, 1945-2001 (bulk, Fall-Winter 1945) R-MC 075
Status
Edited Full Draft
Author
Shaun Illingworth
Date
May 2004
Language of description note
Finding aid is written in English.

Part of the Rutgers University Archives Repository

Contact:
Rutgers University Libraries
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
169 College Avenue
New Brunswick NJ 08901-1163
848-932-7510
732-932-7012 (Fax)