Ava Milam Clark Papers, 1888-1972
Clark, Ava Milam, 1884-1976
6.6 cubic feet and 1 reel of microfilm
Scope and Content Note
The papers of Ava Milam Clark consist of seven boxes containing
correspondence from 1903 until 1971; speeches on the Orient; information
on Chinese family customs; Food and Agriculture Organization monthly
reports; information on education in Syria, Iraq, and the Philippines;
travel itineraries; radio talks, 1933-1954; notes; quotations;
photographs; awards; information on home economics at OSU; newspaper
clippings; student reports and term papers; her two books; and
various items belonging to J.C. Clark, her husband. The reel of
microfilm consists of J. C. Clark's YMCA letters and reports from
1911-1918.
Boxes 1-4 were rearranged according to accepted rules for manuscript
collections. Boxes 5 and 6 consist of information used in writing
her autobiography and were transferred to the Archives by the
OSU Office of Publications. The two boxes were left in the order
received. Box 7 consists of photographs of Ava Milam and Jesse
Clark, friends and family; Ava Milam Clark's travels abroad; and
her homes in Corvallis and McKenzie Bridge, Oregon.
Biographical Note
Ava Milam Clark was born on November 27, 1884 in Macon, Missouri.
She was one of five daughters of Ancil and Louisa Milam. She attended
the University of Chicago and obtained her Ph.B. in 1910 and her
A.M. degree in 1911. Ava Milam Clark taught two years in public
school, 1902-1904, and at Blees Military Academy (Macon, Mo.)
from 1904-1907. She was an instructor of Foods and Nutrition at
Iowa State College in the summer of 1911, after which she came
to Oregon Agricultural College.
From 1911 until 1916 she was professor and head of the Department
of Foods and Nutrition. She was made Dean of the School of Home
Economics in 1917, serving in that capacity until 1950. In 1922
Clark went to China to help establish a home economics department
at Yenching University in Peking. She left Oregon State College
in 1931 for one year to work as a consultant in home economics
at various universities in the Far East. In 1932 she was made
Director of Home Economics for the Oregon State System of Higher
Education.
In the summer of 1937 Clark and Alma Fritchoff conducted a home
economics tour to China and Japan. For five and one-half months
in 1948 she acted as a consultant in home economics colleges in
Korea and China and made an educational survey in the Philippines
for the Foreign Missions Conference of North America. From 1950
until 1952 Clark served as a home economics advisor to the governments
of Syria and Iraq for the United Nations' Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO). She retired from OSC in 1950 and was made
Dean Emeritus.
Clark wrote many articles for various professional magazines and
two books, A Study of Student Homes of China (1930), and
her autobiography, Adventures of a Home Economist, with
Kenneth Munford (OSU Press, 1969). Ava Milam married J.C. Clark
on November 1, 1952. She received the Distinguished Service Award
from OSU in 1966 and the same award from Yonsei University in
1968. Ava Milam Clark died on August 14, 1976.
Related Materials
College of
Home Economics Records (RG 141);College of Home Economics
Photographic Collection (P 44); Ava
Milam & Jesse C. Clark Photographic Collection (P 152); PUB
383 (OSU Press non-serial); MC - Milam, Ava B.
Shelf Locations
SR 5/6/03/10-61
2/2/1/61 (photographs)
oversize cabinet drawer 5
microfilm cabinet
Inventory
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