Sam Houston State University
Early Days at Sam Houston State University
In 1910, Clark moved to Sam Houston State University at twenty-eight years of age after President Henry F. Estill, the longest standing President in Sam Houston State University’s history, offered him a job as secretary to the President and the librarian. At the time the small school served only 400 students. Soon after his arrival he was also given extra duties of registrar, purchasing agent, bookkeeper, and librarian, but soon Clark began stepping into the classroom again by substitute teaching Estill’s classes during his absences. From the years 1911 – 1914, Clark, tapping into the experience he received throughout his undergraduate days, also served as the baseball coach. On a personal note, Clark married Sally Chism in the year 1913. She was a fellow graduate of Texas Christian University and Clark met her even sooner than his college days while singing in the choir at West Texas religious camp meetings in 1898. Often referred to as Sally and Joe, the couple frequently opened their home to Sam Houston Normal Institute students as they would never have children of their own.
Career After a Master's Degree
Clark left Sam Houston Normal Institute in the year 1917 to pursue a Master’s degree from Columbia University, and returned in the same year with a M.A. degree and teacher’s certificate which allowed him to teach history full-time. Upon returning, he also became the Head of the History Department. During his teaching career in Huntsville, Texas, Clark was fortunate enough to be able to witness Sam Houston Normal Institute grow to Normal College and finally receive immense credit by being named the State Teacher’s College. Clark also wrote two textbooks: A New History of Texas (1916) and The Story of Texas (1932) which were used in thousands of elementary and high schools throughout the state. He also wrote a reference book titled The Texas Gulf Coast (1955). A separate book he wrote, titled Thank God We Made It! (1969) is a story of his family’s involvement in Texas education and also served as a source to this research.
Retirement From Sam Houston State University
During his tenure at Sam Houston State University, Joseph Clark was given the nickname “Mr. Sam Houston”, but he retired August 25, 1951 after serving Sam Houston State University for forty one years at the age of seventy. On July 27th of the same year, Sam Houston State University threw him a birthday and retirement banquet, at which time it was estimated that during his educational career, Clark taught 10,000 students in his classrooms and an additional 30 – 40,000 students were privy to his lectures and various programs. During his retirement years, he focused chiefly on the revision of his textbooks which were still under state contracts. He also constructed the genealogical chart of the Clark family, and at the time he wrote his book Thank God We Made It, he lived in Houston, Texas. He died in Houston on September 13, 1969 and was buried in Huntsville, Texas.