Elmer Talmage Clark was an American writer, editor, and denominational executive for the Methodist church, born on September 9, 1886, in Arkansas. He received a master's degree from George Peabody College for Teachers and a Th.D. from Temple University. He also received honorary degrees from Florida Southern College and Southwestern University. He served the Methodist Episcopal Church South and the Methodist Church for 58 years until his retirement in 1952. He worked for the St. Louis Conference and at denominational headquarters in Nashville and in New York City. He was a historian of the denomination, serving as leader of the Association of Methodist Historical Societies for two decades, and was a prolific writer of books and tracts. Clark served as a pastor in St. Louis, Missouri. He also was a correspondent of the "St. Louis Republic" and the "New York Tribune" from England, France, and Italy, and covering the American armies in the field. He was special publicity secretary of the YMCA in England, Scotland, Ireland, and France. From 1939 to 1952 he served as editor of "World Outlook". He was a frequent correspondent of Duke University President William Preston Few. The Elmer T. Clark Papers were received by the Duke University Archives as a transfer in 1973 and in 1986. Some of his books include "Social Studies of the War", "The Chiangs of China", "Healing Ourselves: The First Task of The Church in America", "The Small Sects in America", "An Album of Methodist History", "The Church and the World Parish", "The Rural Church in the South", "The Missionary Imperative", The Warm Heart of Wesley", and "The Book of Daily Devotion". Elmer T. Clark died on August 29, 1966, in Birmingham, Alabama.