Résumé

Captain, U.S. Army Balloon Service, World War I, 1917-1919.

Partner, [Arthur Bridgeman] Clark and Clark, Architects, Palo Alto, CA, 1919- .

Principal, Birge M. Clark, Architect, Palo Alto, CA, 1926. He maintained his office in Room #207 of the building at 310 University Avenue in Downtown Palo Alto in 1926. (See Polk's Palo Alto, California, City Directory, 1926, p. 315.) In 1942, Clark's office remained at 310 University Avenue. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation The National Archives At St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; World War Ii Draft Cards (4th Registration) For the State of California; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System; Record Group Number: 147, accessed 01/31/2024.)

Partner, Clark and [David B.] Clark, Architects, Palo Alto, CA.

Partner, Clark and [Walter] Stromquist, Architects, Palo Alto, CA, 1945-1957. In 1956, Clark and Stromquist had its office at 321 Channing Avenue. (See Palo Alto, California, City Directory, 1956, p. 59.)

Partner, Clark, Stromquist, [David F.] Potter and [Joseph] Ehrlich, Architects, Palo Alto, CA, 1957-1967.

Partner, Clark, Stromquist and Potter, Architects, Palo Alto, CA, 1968-1969 .

Partner, Clark, Stromquist and Sandstrom, Architects, Palo Alto, CA, c. 1970- .

Teaching

Instructor in Architecture, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 1950-1972.

Professional Activities

Member, American Institute of Architect, Santa Clara Valley Chapter.

Professional Awards

Fellow, American Institute of Architects (FAIA), 1952.

Recipient, American Institute of Architects, Northern California, East Bay, and Coast Valleys Chapters, Honor Award of Merit, for Magna Engineering Company Building, 1953.

Archives

Clark's professional papers, about 2000 items dating between 1909-1954, have been archived in the Stanford University Libraries' Department of Special Collections and University Archives, Birge M. Clark Architectural Drawings (SC0838). According to the Online Archive of California (OAC): "Collection contains architectural drawings by Birge M. Clark, his brother David B. Clark, and other partners Walter Stromquist, David F. Potter and Joseph Ehrlich, with a few drawings by his father A. B. Clark. Projects were mostly located in Palo Alto, Stanford, and other communities on the Peninsula and included residences, schools, businesses, and city offices. Most of the drawings are pencil on tissue but other formats are also represented." (See the Online Archive of California, "Guide to the Birge M. Clark Architectural Drawings," accessed 08/01/2016.)

High School/College

Graduate, Palo Alto High School, Palo Alto, CA, 1910.

A.B., Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 1914.

B.Arch., Columbia University, New York, NY, 1917.

Relocation

Born at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital in San Francisco, CA, on 04/16/1893, Birge Clark spent his adolescence and early adult years attended high school in Palo Alto and college in nearby Stanford. (SeeJosh Schneider, Stanford University Libraries.edu, "A Stanford Atlas: About Birge M. Clark," accessed 02/01/2024.)

After finishing a Stanford undergraduate degree in 1914, he attended Columbia University in New York, NY to obtain a degree in architecture, graduating just before World War I.

He saw service in the military during World War I, and returned to Palo Alto, where he maintained a professional practice for over 60 years.

In 1940, the US Census located Clark living with his wife and four sons at 190 Edgewood Drive in Palo Alto. The house had an estimated value of $20,000, well above the national average, but in line with others in the neighborhood. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1940; Census Place: Palo Alto, Santa Clara, California; Roll: m-t0627-00336; Page: 16A; Enumeration District: 43-30, accessed 02/01/2024.) The Clarks remained here in 1942. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation The National Archives At St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; World War Ii Draft Cards (4th Registration) For the State of California; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System; Record Group Number: 147, accessed 01/31/2024.) They lived at 1490 Edgewood Drive in the city's Crescent Park neighborhood in 1950. The US Census of that year listed inhabitants of the Clark household as Birge and his wife Lucile, and their two sons Richard T. Clark (born c. 1923 in CA) and Birge G. Clark (born c. 1930 in CA). (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Palo Alto, Santa Clara, California; Roll: 1684; Page: 14; Enumeration District: 43-63A, accessed 02/01/2024.)

In 1970, Clark resided at 1490 Edgewood Drive in Palo Alto, CA.

Clark was buried in the Alta Mesa Memorial Park in Palo Alto, CA.

Parents

Birge M. Clark was the son of Professor Arthur Bridgman Clark (1866-1948), an Art Professor at Stanford University. Arthur Bridgman Clark focued on graphic arts and became an original faculty member at Stanford in 1892. The Clark family was well-rooted within the Stanford academic community by the time Birge became an architect.

His mother was Hannah Grace Birge (born 01/22/1866 in Hector, NY-d. 11/15/1959 in Santa Clara County, CA). She married Arthur B. Clark on 09/01/1891.

Birge's siblings included Esther Clark (born 1900), and the twins Donald Eastman Clark (born 09/27/1904 in CA) and David Bridgman Clark (born 09/27/1904 in CA). (See Guy S. Rix, History and Genealogy of Deacon Joseph Eastman of Hadley, Mass,, Grandson of Roger Eastman of Salisbury Mass., [Westfield, MA: M. Emily Eastman, n.d.] p. 199.)

Spouse

Clark married Lucile Townley 06/11/1896 in Germany-d. 01/04/1986 in Santa Clara County, CA) in 1922. Her mother Frances May Wright (born 07/13/1872 in Union, OR-d. 1956) married Prof. Sidney Dean Townley (born 1867 in Waukesha, WI-d. 1946 in CA) on 07/01/1895 in Union, OR. Lucille was the eldest of three daughters. (See George T. Davis, Genealogy of the Descendants of Col. John Davis of Oxford, Conn., [New rochelle, NY: George T. Davis, 1910], p. 106.)

Children

He and Lucile Townley had four children: Richard Townley Clark (born 03/13/1923 in Palo Alto, CA-d. 06/11/1996), Dean Townley Clark (born 10/08/1925 in CA), Birge Gaylord Clark (born 09/04/1929 in Santa Clara County, CA) and Malcolm Mallory Clark (born 09/21/1931 in Santa Clara County, CA).

Dean T. Clark became a surgeon practicing in Santa Clara County.

Biographical Notes

Prior to 01/31/2024, PCAD incorrectly listed Birge M. Clark's date of birth as being 04/16/1894. it also listed his place of birth as Palo Alto, rather than San Francisco.

His World War II draft registration card indicated that Birge Clark was Caucasian with a light brown complexion, hazel eyes and gray hair. He stood 5-feet, 8-and-1/2-inches tall and weighed 170 pounds. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation The National Archives At St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; World War Ii Draft Cards (4th Registration) For the State of California; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System; Record Group Number: 147, accessed 01/31/2024.)