Skip to main content
Please contact the Booth Family Center for Special Collections for assistance with accessing these materials.

Edgar E. Clark Collection

 Collection
Identifier: GTM-790910

Scope Note

The Edgar E. Clark Collection documents the publication of the writings of Milovan Djilas, a noted Yugoslav communist who later became a vocal critic of communism. Most of the collection conecrns Djilas' book "The New Class," published in 1957. The collection includes correspondence dated 1956-1968 about Djilas' writings and the efforts to publish his works. Also present in this archive is an extensive series of reports by Edgar E. Clark and his wife Katharine J. Clark about Djilas and his works. A few manuscripts, including a draft version of Ismail Akhmedov's "A Tartar's Iliad", are also included.

Most of the documents date between 1950 and 1968. The Edgar E. Clark Collection is preserved in 4 boxes amounting to 1 linear foot of material.

Dates

  • 1950 - 1976
  • Majority of material found within 1954 - 1968

Conditions Governing Access

Most manuscripts collections at the Georgetown University Booth Family Center for Special Collections are open to researchers; however, restrictions may apply to some collections. Collections stored off-site require a minimum of three days for retrieval. For use of all manuscripts collections, researchers are advised to contact the Booth Family Center for Special Collections in advance of any visit.

Biographical Sketches

Edgar E. Clark (1912-1993) was a U.S. Army war correspondent and later a journalist reporting news for a variety of news services across the globe. During World War II, Clark served as a correspondent for "Stars and Stripes." He was wounded twice at Anzio beachhead in Italy, and, as a result, he was awarded the Silver Star.

Following the war, Clark worked for the United Press news agency, reporting from places in the Middle East and Europe. He also covered Eastern and Central Europe for "Time" Magazine. Subsequently, he reported on events in the Far East for the "New York Herald Tribune." Clark later worked a second stint with "Time," concentrating on European affairs.

Clark and his first wife Katharine J. Clark, a journalist in her own right, aided former Yugoslav communist Milovan Djilas in the publication of some of his manuscripts which were critical of communism and the Tito regime.

Clark graduated from Georgetown University in 1976.

Katharine Clark died in 1986. Clark died on April 24, 1993.

[Source: Obituary in the "Washington Post," April 26, 1993.]

* * * * * * *

Katharine Jarman Clark (1912-1986) was a noted journalist who covered world affairs for a number of news agencies. Born in New York City, Katharine graduated from the Madeira School and Smith College. Prior to World War II, she held several newspaper and radio jobs. During World War II, Katharine wrote radio news for the Associated Press. In 1948, Katharine and her husband, Edgar E. Clark, reported from Central and Eastern Europe. In addition, she held a post with the International News Service.

Katharine is perhaps best known for her coverage of the split between communist Yugoslav leader Marshal Tito and his advisor Milovan Djilas. She smuggled some of Djilas' manuscripts out of Yugoslavia.

Katharine's varied career included positions with NBC and ABC radio news, the London Sunday Times, the "Washington Post," the United Nations, Voice of America and "Reader's Digest."

Katharine J. Clark died on February 2, 1986.

[Source: Obituary in "Washington Post," February 3, 1986.]

* * * * * * *

Milovan Djilas (1911-1995) was a high-ranking communist party leader in Yugoslavia who is best known for his break with communism and his writings which criticized the communist system.

Djilas was born June 1, 1911 in Podbisce, Montenegro. He earned a law degree from the University of Belgrade in 1933. He was arrested for his opposition to the royalist dictatorship of Yugoslavia. In 1937, Djilas met Josip Broz Tito, Yugoslav Communist Party leader, and Djilas became a member of the communist party's central committee in 1938. He was active in the Yugoslav partisan resistance to Germany during World War II. After the war, Djilas served as a cabinet minister under Tito, and he agreed with the Yugoslav communists' independence from the USSR.

In 1953, Djilas took on the role of vice president of Yugoslavia. However, he began to criticize communism and was eventually removed from his governmental post. He was imprisoned after he published an article in favor of the Hungarian uprising of 1956. Over the next few decades, Djilas criticized communism in general and Yugoslav communism in particular.

Djilas was a prolific writer. His works include a political autobiography in four parts: "Land Without Justice" (1958), "Memoir of a Revolutionary" (1973), "Wartime" (1977), "Rise and Fall" (1985). His other notable books include "The New Class" (1957), "The Unperfect Society" (1969), "Conversations with Stalin" (1962), "The Leper and Other Stories" (1964), "Tito: The Story from Inside" (1980), and "Of Prisons and Ideas" (1986).

Milovan Djilas died on April 20, 1995.

[Source: Encyclopedia Britannica online.]

Extent

1 Linear Feet (4 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Title
Edgar E. Clark Collection
Status
Completed
Author
Scott S. Taylor. Georgetown University Library Booth Family Center for Special Collections.
Date
2011
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
English.

Repository Details

Part of the Georgetown University Manuscripts Repository

Contact:
Lauinger Library, 5th Floor
37th and O Streets, N.W.
Washington DC 20057