The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“TRIBUTE TO THOMAS D. CLARK” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Senate section on pages S9706 on July 22, 2003.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRIBUTE TO THOMAS D. CLARK
Mr. BUNNING. Mr. President, I pay tribute to Thomas D. Clark, Kentucky's most prominent historian. On Monday, July 14, 2003, Mr. Clark celebrated his 100th birthday, Remarkably, Mr. Clark's life has spanned nearly half of Kentucky's history.
Thomas Clark is an esteemed southern historian and writer, agrarian and preservationist. Having grown up on a cotton farm in Mississippi, Mr. Clark came to the State as a graduate student enrolled in the University of Kentucky in 1928. Less than 3 years later he decided to settle in Kentucky and delve into its history.
In 1937, Mr. Clark's ``A History in Kentucky'' was published, and it is still considered the definitive work on Kentucky history by the State Department for Libraries and Archives. Mr. Clark was declared Kentucky's historian laureate for life in 1990, and to this day, maintains his enthusiasm and passion for Kentucky history. That he lived and experienced much of the history he wrote is testament to this man's inimitable and authoritative qualities.
In addition to being Kentucky's premier historian, Mr. Clark paid the State a great service by saving part of its history. In 1936 he stopped the State librarian, who had run out of storage space, from selling truckloads of records as scrap. He then encouraged the Governor to create a State archive and established a special documents collection at the University of Kentucky's library.
Mr. Clark's ardor for Kentucky and its history and his tenacity for historical preservation makes this man one of Kentucky's greatest heroes. For generations to come, Kentucky will be indebted to this man. I thank the Senate for allowing me to recognize Mr. Clark and voice his praises. He is Kentucky at its finest.
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