Badger Clark Memorial Society Collection

Content Description

The collection consists of materials relating to the Badger Clark Memorial Society that were transferred to the State Archives by the South Dakota Historical Society Foundation. The Badger Clark Memorial Society was created in 1984 to preserve and distribute Clark’s works as well as to preserve the Badger Hole. The collection contains various items on Badger Clark and the Badger Clark Memorial Society. The majority of the collection is photographs (original, postcards, reprints and negatives) featuring photos of Badger Clark, Reverend Charles B. Clark and Anna (Morris) Clark. Also shown are images of the Badger Hole (Custer State Park). Also included are booklets and letters concerning Clark’s poetry. There are also other publications and certificates. The collection also contains a VHS tape of a production made by South Dakota Public Broadcasting titled, “Mountain Thunder, A Ballad of Badger Clark” from 1997, a vinyl record titled “Dacotah Voices” with side one containing six poems read by Badger Clark and side two featuring four poems read by Morton B. Miller dating to July 1, 1956 and a CD titled “Badger Clark-Dakota Voices.” The first seven tracks are Clark reading his poems. The other tracks are Clark poems read by Mark Bush. There are twenty-six total tracks on the CD. Also included are three pieces of sheet music featuring songs made with Badger Clark’s poems, a scrapbook made in 1961 by students of the Custer State Park School as part of a Young Citizen’s League Project featuring poems by Clark and drawings done by the students and finally a photo album/scrapbook dating to the 1980s/1990s of the Badger Clark Memorial Society featuring photographs of various events and visitors to the Badger Hole as well as news clippings from various society events. There is also a section devoted to Darryl Patten who portrayed Badger Clark for many years. In 2015, the Badger Clark Memorial Society merged its operations into the South Dakota Historical Society Foundation, the nonprofit partner of the South Dakota State Historical Society at the Cultural Heritage Center.

Acquisition Type

Transfer

Restrictions Apply

No