Dixon-Clark family papers
Scope and Contents
The Dixon-Clark family papers are composed of a wide variety of documents relating to the family's personal history. The collection is heavily photographic; a wide sample of correspondence, personal journals, and writings are available.
Dates of Materials
- 1882 - 1950
- Majority of material found within 1900 - 1945
Creator
- Dixon-Clark family (Family)
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for use without restriction beyond the standard terms and conditions of Smith College Special Collections.
Conditions Governing Use
Smith College retains copyright of materials created as part of its business operations; however, copyright in other items in this collection may be held by their respective creators. For reproductions of materials that are governed by fair use as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission to cite or publish is required. For instances which may regard materials in the collection not created by Smith College, researchers are responsible for determining who may hold materials' copyrights and obtaining approval from them. Researchers do not need anything further from Smith College Special Collections to move forward with their use.
Biographical / Historical
The Dixon-Clark family papers document several members of the Dixon-Clark family and in particular, three generations of Smith graduates.
Henry 'Harry' Austin Clark, Sr. (1865 - 1951) was one of the earliest stockholders of the Hawaiian Steamship Company, VP and Director of the Cuban-American Sugar Company, and Director of the Chaparra Sugar Company, Colonial Sugar Company, and the National Sugar Refining Company. In 1916, he and Elizabeth Marguerite Dixon married. Henry Austin Clark Jr. was born in 1917, followed shortly by Elizabeth Dixon Clark (Nicholas) in 1919.
Elizabeth 'Marguerite' Dixon Clark (1882 - 1942) served as President of the Class of 1906 during her time at Smith College. For several years she taught school in New York City before marrying Henry Austin Clark in 1916. After the birth of her two children, Marguerite continued to play a role in literary and social society. Until her death in 1942, Marguerite was active on several volunteer and philanthropic endeavors including serving on the Board of Directors for the Christadora House (1925 - 1931) and with the Smith Club of Queens Borough.
Mary Newbury Dixon (1896 - 1978) graduated Smith College in 1917. The youngest sister of Marguerite, she also spent a year teaching school. She completed her Master of Landscape Architecture from the Cambridge School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture in 1934 after working several years as a draftsman and computational assistant for the New York Central Railroad.
Henry Austin 'Austie' Clark Jr. (1917 - 1991) attended Harvard in the late-1930s. After naval service during World War II, Clark and his wife Waleta settled into a life of automobile collecting, rallies and tours and raising a family. Clark's collection of cars led him to open the Long Island Automotive Museum (LIAM) in 1948. The museum's collection was moved to the Benson Ford Research Center at The Henry Ford in 1991.
Elizabeth 'Betty' Clark Nicholas (1919 - 1979) graduated Smith College in 1941. She married John Simmons Nicholas and moved to Greenwich, Connecticut.
Extent
1.458 linear feet (3 containers)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The Dixon-Clark family papers contain photographs, newspaper articles, and correspondence regarding the private and social lives of various members of the family.
Custodial History
Materials previously arranged and exhibited with the Henry Austin Clark Museum. The collection was transferred to the Smith College Archives in August, 2014.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Dixon-Clark family papers were created over a number of years by various members of the Dixon-Clark family. The collection was given to the Smith College Archives by Ann Clark Eddins (Class of 1966) in 2014.
An additional letter was donated by Christine Kim, 2019.
Appraisal
Elizabeth Carron
Processing Information
Elizabeth Carron
Processing Information
Please note that prior to 2018, folder inventories were not always updated when new material was added to the collection. As a result, folder inventories may not be complete and folder numbers may be incorrect.
- Cambridge School
- Clark, Elizabeth Marguerite, 1882 - 1942
- Clark, Henry Austin, 1865 - 1952
- Clark, Henry Austin, 1917-1991
- Debutantes -- United States
- Depressions -- 1929 -- New York (state) -- New York
- Dixon, Mary Newbury, 1896 - 1978
- Receipts (acknowledgements)
- Smith College. -- Alumni and alumnae
- Smith College. -- Campus
- Smith College. -- Student life
- Upper class women -- Social life and customs -- New York
- Women college students -- Massachusetts -- Northampton
- World War, 1939-1945
- black-and-white photographs
- correspondence
- cyanotypes (photographic prints)
- diaries
- direct positives
- Title
- Finding aid to the Dixon-Clark family papers.
- Status
- Legacy Finding Aid (Updated)
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Elizabeth Carron.
- Date
- 2014
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Revision Statements
- 07/26/2017: This resource was modified by the ArchivesSpace Preprocessor developed by the Harvard Library (https://github.com/harvard-library/archivesspace-preprocessor)
- 2018-12-10: Finding aid updated as part of the College Archives Survey
Repository Details
Part of the Smith College Archives Repository
