The Clarke Family Manuscript Collection perpetuates the memory of Saint Louis University graduate Powhatan Hughes Clarke, who is said to have served his country in France during the First World War as both soldier and Secret Service agent. It also provides genealogical and historical information on the Clarke family, which included Clarke's father Powhatan Henry Clarke, an Indian fighter, Congressional Medal of Honor winner, and friend of celebrated Western artist Frederic Remington. The collection contains family information dating from as far back as 1540, with the bulk of the material dating from about 1900 to 1925. Most of the material consists of correspondence between Powhatan Hughes Clarke's mother, Elizabeth Clemens Clarke, and those acquaintances of her son who she hoped would be able to corroborate his alleged Secret Service activities, a subject that she feared the government wished to conceal. Clarke himself supposedly warned his mother of this possibility in several letters he wrote her from France. Also here are handwritten copies of Clarke's vivid letters from France arranged chronologically in a notebook. Mrs. Clarke also corresponded with the doctors who attended her son in his last illness, apparently convinced that he had not received proper treatment. Some Clarke family correspondence can also be found in the Correspondence Series. The Biographies Series is made up of an account of Powhatan Hughes Clarke's life written by his aunt Mary C. Clemens. It incorporates extensive extracts from Clarke's own letters. The Ephemera Series contains some unusual pieces of memorabilia collected by Clarke while in the military, including menus from officers' dinners and a program for a French revue at the Theatre Femina. The Military Records Series includes copies of orders and certificates related to Clarke's military career. The Notes Series houses both notes on Clarke's career and copious genealogical material. The Photographs Series provides glimpses of Clarke's journey to France aboard the Mercury as well as places in that country where he was stationed. The Publications Series contains a booklet of photographs of the July 14, 1919, victory parade in Paris.