Funeral program of Lt. Col. Major Clark: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Digital copy of a funeral program for Lt. Col. Major Clark. The program is printed in black ink on a single sheet of blue paper, folded to form four pages. The first page, or cover, reads [Homegoing Service / for / Lt. Col. Major Clark / 1917-1999] and has a black and white portrait of Clark in military uniform. Beneath the photo, the program has details for the funeral service, held at Rose of Sharon Baptist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The first interior page has several paragraph titled [Reflections on the LIfe of Lt. Col. Major Clark] from his birth in Headland, Alabama and childhood in Haskell, Oklahoma, to his military career, which involved service, World War II, Korea and a position at the Pentagon. He retired from the Army in 1960 and relocated to Tulsa, Oklahoma. The program also details his activism, stating [He fought, mostly behind the scenes, to correct the historical lies, distortions, and injustices regarding our Black military men]. The second interior page has the [Order of Service] for the funeral. The back page has a message of thanks from the family, a list of pall bearers and floral attendants. At bottom center is a message from Jack's Memory Chapel.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1999
• Printed by: Jack's Memory Chapel, American, founded 1948
• Owned by: Eddie Faye Gates, American, 1934 - 2021
• Subject of: Lt. Col. Major Clark, American, 1917 - 1999
• Type: digital images
• Type: programs
• Type: digital media - born analog
• Medium: digital
• Dimensions: File size (overall): 208.78 MB
• Place collected: Tulsa, Tulsa County, Oklahoma, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Activism
• Topic: American South
• Topic: American West
• Topic: Baptist
• Topic: Communities
• Topic: Families
• Topic: Funeral customs and rites
• Object number: 2014.117.68
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Eddie Faye Gates, Tulsa OK, author, historian, community activist
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Restrictions likely apply. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.