Buried Treasure

History Spotlight by Doug Humes

Photos courtesy of the Marple Historical Society

Charles Clark knew from a fairly young age that he wanted to be a photographer. Born in 1880, by 1900 he was listing himself as a “photographer.” In 1907, Charles was employed as a staff photographer for the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, the largest circulating newspaper in the area. “In Philadelphia, nearly everyone reads the Bulletin.” Clark’s work was seen by a lot of local readers. By 1918, Clark and his wife and two daughters settled in at a house at Summit and Broomall Avenues. Charles could walk two blocks, to take the trolley into town.

The young studio photographer with his camera

In September 1918 at age 38, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Signal Corps as a photographer. He never made it “over there,” as the war ended months later. He took a new job, as a newsreel cameraman for Fox Movietones, the company that provided silent video clips to be shown in movie theaters, between features.

Charles worked for them for the next 11 years. His work survives: The Fox Movietone archives are housed at the University of South Carolina. You can search that collection by cameraman, “Clark”, to see all of the interesting events he saw in that job.

Charles Clark, The Press Photographer, at an event with his “portable” camera

In 1930, Clark opened up his photography studio in Media, but also was a staff photographer for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The young Clark family, probably in front of their West Philadelphia home

The family still lived at the same home on Summit Avenue. He was employed during the Great Depression. Life was good – and then it was not. Charles was diagnosed with lung cancer, and was taken within weeks, two days before Christmas 1942.

A wire service photo of Jack Dempsey, the heavyweight boxing champion, with his training companions

His life’s work – photographs and negatives that chronicled what he saw in life – was filed away in what now fills five milk crates and three old suitcases. They sat in the basement of the Summit Road house for years, while outside a local boy, young Seth Pancoast, cut the Clark’s lawn in the 1950s. When Betty Clark died in 2001, Seth volunteered to take the old boxes of negatives. They went into his basement, awaiting the right moment to see the light of day. The right moment came last week, when Seth loaned them to me to figure out what is there. As I review them, I will be sure to post some of what I find on the Marple Historical Society’s website or Facebook page. It is a treasure trove of local history, just waiting for me to come along!

Charles Clark’s treasure chests

For more history on Newtown Square, Delaware County, and membership information, please visit our website at: www.NSHistory.org.